The Hatchling
by Ms Kitty Black
Summary: When arms dealer Anton Baclovitch murders a seemingly insignificant MI6 agent, and the Avengers are drafted to assist in the investigation, one team member will be unexpectedly reunited with their past. Can they overlook their history for the benefit of the investigation or will their emotions cloud their judgment? WARNING SPOILERS. Post Age of Ultron.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was the end of a long hot day, and Clint Barton propped his feet up on the decking, happily swigging on a cold bottle of beer. It had been 10 years since the team had found out about his family and the 'Ultron Incident' had been dealt with. The Avengers, though no longer active as a team, kept in touch and regularly met up with each other. Steve and Natasha had continued working with the New Avengers team, and things were progressing nicely. Steve had also taken to acting as a consultant between Midgard and Asgard due to the fact he never aged, and was finally beginning to settle down somewhere, Tony often joked that eventually Steve would pluck up the courage to ask Lady Sif to dinner.

Tony himself had gone on to continue doing what he did best, and Stark Industries had never been more successful. Since the Incident he and Pepper had married and had a son, Jason, who was now 4 years old. Bruce had been found eventually, working on the farms in the Middle East and he had agreed that though he would stay there for now, he would always come if he was needed. As for Thor, well it turned out that Loki was being manipulated just as much as Clint and Selvig had been, so had been welcomed back by his older brother with open arms. After Thor had taken up the title of King and All Father, Loki had taken up his position as Chief Advisor to him, though he had yet to marry much to Thor's consternation. Thor had married Jane and had only recently welcomed their first child, Beragon, a healthy boy into the realm. So far, however, Jane had not made any decisions about possible immortality.

Unbeknownst to all the Avengers, new and old, not everything was perfect in the Barton household. Clint and Lauren had been married 18 years by now and Lewis, who had been 12 when Ultron had hit, was now 22 and working in the military as Naval Intelligence. Amelia, who had been 8 when Lewis was 12, was 18 and just leaving high school, going to study Medicine in an aim to become a surgeon. Adam who was now 20, and 10 at the 'Ultron Incident', was incredibly good at sport and languages and was, like his sister, looking into a medical degree, with a view to working overseas as a medical translator. Their youngest, Nathaniel, wanted to be an astronaut, but was very disappointed when browsing through his sibling's university prospectuses he found no such course.

It was not common knowledge that Barton had a wife and kids, even less that at the time that he and Lauren had married, Barton already had a son age 8 years old; a troubled young boy with curious green eyes and moppy black hair. The Avengers joked that the 'hatchlings' as Tony had nicknamed them, would eventually fly the nest. This caused a small twinge of pain for Clint as he thought of Harry, his 'hatchling' that had _already_ flown the nest. Flown all the way to England as it happens. Though Clint was apparently not allowed to know anything else about what Harry did, which incessantly irked him.

It was why they were in their current situation of standing once again on the helicarrier, surrounded by the original Avengers. Nat was giving Bruce the death glare that would kill him three times over, for leaving the way he did after Ultron had been dealt with. Fury walked in, trench coat billowing behind him in the typically over dramatic nature that was rivalled by only Stark himself. He came to a halt in front of the table.

"Stark. Banner. Barton. Romanov. Rodgers. Good to know you are all here for once. We have an issue. A request for aid has been issued by the UK. MI6 to be precise. A group of agents have been investigating an arms dealer called Anton Baclovitch." Natasha's eyes widened in horror. Baclovitch was a name that everyone in the business knew, more importantly though they feared him. "His codename within the spy community is 'Snake' as I'm sure that Romanov is aware. This is the first time someone has had a real shot at bring this SOB down."

It was then that Tony stepped forward, looking intently at the surveillance photos of Baclovitch, "So who was stupid enough to go after him? If he's as dangerous as you say he is then why would someone go after him? I'm all for bringing down terrorist and arms dealers, but why risk it?" Fury nodded, turning to the screen behind him he brought up a picture of a young man, who looked to only in his early twenties. He returned his gaze back to the team.

"Because of him." It was Bruce that realised he was already dead, letting out a mutter of 'Jesus' under his breath, at the horrifically young age at which he had lost his life.

"Who is he?" asked Barton, speaking for the first time.

"His name is Special Agent Joshua Portmill. He was murdered at the age of 24 in his home in Surrey. Luckily his wife and unborn child were not home and so went unharmed... well as unharmed as losing a father and husband can be. He was investigating a linked terrorist group and came upon the supply chain, connecting directly back to the Snake. 24 hours later he's tortured to death. Our intel says that they probably didn't get any information from him, so the investigation has been taken up by his training partner and good friend."

It was Natasha that responded, the others were still too shocked to say anything. "Who is he - the agent?"

Fury shook his head in annoyance. "That we don't know, what we do know is that he is a Special Agent, trained with this young man and his partner on many occasions. They won't give us a name until we touch down in London and get briefed at MI6 headquarters." He handed each of the members a file with the critical information they needed to know.

Steve stood first, saying "Well, we only have three hours before we leave so I'm off home to pack my gear. Meet back here in two hours, okay everyone." The team nodded and slowly dispersed to say goodbyes and collect their clothes and other necessities.

Agent Hill turned to Fury, a questioning look on her face. "Sir, if I'm not mistaken, you know the identity of the agent they're meeting with, why keep it a secret?" Hill went to stand next to him. Fury let out a deep breath before turning to Hill to answer her question.

"Agent Hill, are you aware of who the young man is? Are you aware that he has connections to this team? Specifically Agent Barton." He turned away to bring up a file and scroll through it. She hung her head slightly, not knowing that specific piece of information

"I was unsure how Barton would react, he never agreed to the path that this particular Agent took." People who didn't know Fury very well would not have picked up on the hint of sadness in his voice. Hill, having worked with him and mentored by him for many years before knew all the indicators to regret that Fury was showing. It was the amount of regret her father figure was showing that shocked her. The raw emotion, for Fury anyway, jarred her, leaving her uncertain of what to say or do in this situation. Opting to leave it alone she nodded and turned to leave to prepare for the team's departure.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **AN – I just want to say thanks to the lovely readers who reviewed the first chapter, and hope that people enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Feel free to ask questions and I will answer them as best I can without ruining the plot. Sadly I don't own any of the below material it all belongs to the JK Rowling and Marvel :(**

Outside by the cars Natasha had noticed something off about Clint. He kept zoning out during the briefing and had made no sarcastic or rude comments about working with other agencies. It was unnerving to say the least. While in thought she was unaware of Clint looking at her and asking her a question. She snapped out of her train of thought saying, "What?"

"You looked deep in thought is all." Clint shrugged his shoulders

"Nothing, just thinking that you've been quiet today." She was unsure as to whether he would actually answer. They usually had a code of silence on these types of things, but they were about to go on a mission and she needed his head on straight.

"I'm good." Was all he said.

"And you're sure that there's nothing else that's going to be an issue, right?" She looked at him as they continued walking.

He glanced at her saying, "No Nat. I'm good, honest." He smiled broadly the laughed, the sudden change in demeanor immediately sent up red flags to Natasha. So she played along and they relapsed into a comfortable silence as they walked together.

"Because if you need to tell me something or just talk then I would listen, you know that, right?" she said glancing at him again, they looked at one another as if assessing the other or the situation. Clint looked strangely at her, Natasha hesitated as if unsure as to whether to push it further or to let it drop. Clint dropped the eye contact and let his head hang slightly, drawing himself back up Natasha was disappointed at the emotional mask he now had in place.

"Do you want to go individually to collect our stuff or split up and meet at my place?" He pulled to a stop next to his car, awaiting her answer. The sudden change in topic surprised her and made her pause for a minute as she caught up to the new direction of the conversation.

"I'll go to my place and drive round to yours when I'm done." She said turning back to her car and giving him a small and uncertain smile before she started the engine and drove off leaving.

Clint stood there unsure of whether or not she was pissed at him. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell her, he just couldn't. It hurt too much. The fact that he hadn't heard from Harry since he had left for training angered Clint, he had raised Harry from a boy as best he could. He was like a son to Clint, and he couldn't even be bothered to call, e-mail, text to let him know he was okay, though he knew he wasn't dead because he hadn't gotten a call as next of kin, a small comfort he supposed.

He was pulled from his thought process when he pulled into the road leading to his house. It was quieter than he remembered now that two out of four, well five if he counted Harry, had left the nest. He opened the door and climbed out of the car. Closing the door he went to the trunk to pick up his work kit to add to his duffle bag, and began to head indoors. He was met at the door by Lauren, who stood there in a pair of track bottoms and a vest top, clutching a mug of what he presumed to be coffee. She smiled and walked over to the car and laid a gentle kiss on his lips, Clint smiled into the kiss, letting out a soft murmur of approval, before she pulled away and took his hand leading him up to the house.

"I take it by the bag and your spectacularly grouchy face that you have to go on a mission now?" she looked at him, a small forced smile on her face. She brought his head round to look at her, she saw not anger but hurt and that surprised her. Cocking her head slightly she asked, "What is it? Is it the mission or something else?"

He looked her in the eye before sighing and deflating slightly, he knew he had to tell her what it was. That she was feeling the same thing, but admitting to her just how much he felt, the anger, the betrayal, the hurt. He would never admit it but the silence that Harry had put on the rest of the family had done damage that most likely would never be fixed. "It's Harry. We'd be celebrating his 26 birthday if he were here. We don't even have a way of wishing him happy birthday anymore. And I'm conflicted. I don't know whether to be angry or worried."

Lauren continued to walk with Clint to their bedroom. As he began to collect the things he needed and through them into the duffle, he started to think. "I picked up his present last week, as usual. I was thinking when I got it, a present for every year and birthday, he'd hate that he has a pile of presents waiting for him." He laughed slightly as he was engulfed in a memory, the memory of his and Harry's first Christmas together when he was age 7.

" _Hey buddy, come on! Up we get!" Clint bombarded the sleeping boy with tickling and an overly loud voice. The young boy grumbled slightly, it caught Clint unaware, that at the age of 7 the only reason he got up is to do breakfast, well if Clint was going to have anything to do with it, he'd make Harry a Christmas crazy young man in no time._

 _30 minutes later and Harry was eagerly ripping open the wrapping to each of presents off, after getting permission from Clint to be a destructive as he wanted. He looked, played and assessed each of the individual presents as he un-wrapped them. He thanked Clint over and over for each present he received._

" _Thank you Dad, it amazing! I love it! Thank you!" He leapt up and tackled the older man, knocking him over, they both laughed as they went down._

It had been a fantastic day and forever one that stayed in his memories. Sadly though after 11 years of exchanging a single present before he left, because that was all Clint could get Harry to agree to regularly without making the young boy feel uncomfortable, he couldn't break the tradition. Not even after Harry left.

Suddenly he was pulled from his thoughts by someone coming up behind him and wrapping her arms around his body. Lauren laid her head against his, gently tracing invisible patterns on his chest with her thumb. Clint lead back slightly enjoying the calming effect that she was having on his already frayed nerves. He was about to turn around and lay a gentle kiss on her lips when the doorbell rang and a happy 16 year old answered and let the person in.

Nat called up to Clint, "Barton, come on! We need to get going!" He sighed and shook his head and turned to pick up his duffle bag, he held out his hand to walk out with Lauren. They met by the door as Natasha picked the duffle up and went to put it in the car, leaving the family with some privacy to say goodbye. Adam stepped forward first giving his father a firm hug and a whisper of good luck and waited while Nathanial also bid his goodbyes and Clint placed a kiss on each of their forehead as he had always done when they were children. He gave them one more hug before they turned around and headed up the stairs, giving their parents some final alone time.

They turned to look at one another, pausing a moment before Clint drew Lauren into tight embrace they whispered words of reassurance to her. They kissed before he smiled at her saying the parting line of "I will be safe. I will not take stupid risks. I will come home." He leaded forward giving her one last kiss before finishing by saying "I love you."

She smiled at him, placing a hand on his chest "And I love you too. Now go and be safe, okay?" she was standing on the door step as Clint drove off in the 4x4, with Natasha in the front seat. She smiled at him and waved at him one last time before the car disappeared from view. She sighed and turned back into the house; sitting herself down on the sofa she contemplated how long he would be gone this time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

 **AN - Can I thank everyone who has reviewed the last chapter, I love to here all the comments that my readers have for me. So here is the next chapter and I hope you like it but do give me your opinion via reviews if you have any questions. As previously stated I do not own any of this material, all credit to Marvel and JK Rowling.**

It was an hour before the plane departed and the team had arrived back at HQ, Pepper was in tow with 4 year old Jason Anthony Stark, clutching his trusty fluffy Iron Man teddy. Tony began to explain to the young boy what was going on and promising to phone him and talk to him as much as possible while he was in England. Clint looked over to Natasha and nodded toward the SHIELD weapons room, as they made their way over to the room Clint wondered if he should explain what was going on, now that he and Lauren had talked. He felt he owed it to Nat to at least give her the basics.

As they reached the secure door, Natasha walked in front slightly and entered the required passcode and finger print to unlock the door. As the door locks released they both stepped inside and began to put the weapons they needed into the travel cases. Knowing that most of the weapons would be given to them when they reached MI6 HQ in England, they packed only the specialized weapons like the throwing knives and other concealed weapons for Natasha and the bow and arrow, as well as spare equipment, for Clint. They worked quietly and efficiently. They were just about to leave when Clint stopped them both. Nat looked at him with confusion.

"I just… I want to tell you the basics of what's bothering me Nat, I just don't know how to tell you." Natasha was surprised; normally Clint was calm and confident. But any trace of the usual Agent Barton was gone, in its place a nervous and uncertain man was trying to tell her what was wrong. A strange situation indeed. She gave a small nod of encouragement that seemed to work as his shoulders relaxed and he took a deep breath before continuing, "When I was 24, the year before I married Lauren, I had a mission in England. I can't tell you the specifics but what I can tell you is that I was alone in London for about 3 weeks. I was doing some recon on a target, he was leaving a meeting with a potential client when I found a young boy, abandoned and alone in an alley. He was scared and thin and terrified of everything that moved. I managed to get him back to the hotel, to which I completed my mission and went back state side. With the boy."

Natasha was beyond surprise, the fact that Clint had broken rules within SHIELD and laws for this young man got her wondering. What was Clint trying to say? She looked up expectantly saying "Okay, what else?"

The calm demeanour that Nat had kept was reassuring to Clint to say the least, the fact she hadn't flew off the handle at him when she realized the infraction was always a good sign, though he could tell that she was conflicted. "I brought him back to America and adopted him. The family he used to have abused him, neglected him, it was years before he even began to think that he could eventually be a normal child. He grew up with Lauren and I, and looked after every one of his siblings as they came along. He was the perfect big brother." Clint let out a sigh and glanced at his watch to check that they still had time, they had been gone for 30 minutes and so he slowly began to push the cart back to the loading bay and as they went he continued, "He left when he was 16. Got up one morning with a bag packed and said he had an offer from a specialized training program and that he was taking it. He said he'd call when he could and he'd stop by as much as possible. Thinking we would see him again soon we gave him a hug and wished him good luck and he boarded a plane three hours later. That was the last time any of us saw him."

Natasha and Clint stopped at the ramp leading up to the plane and made their way up. They slowly began to unpack the equipment into the storage area. Natasha, curious as to the ending of the story asked, "Do you know why he never contacted you?"

Clint shook his head, "No. We do know he's not dead though because we haven't had a notification of next of kin. Though in those 10 years he's been gone it's highly likely that he could have changed it." The regret in his voice was painfully obvious to Natasha, and worried her even more. Clint was very closed off about his emotions when on the job and here he was baring them for the world to see. It showed Natasha just how much pain her partner was in.

He looked at her one last time saying, "We would have been celebrating his 26th birthday in a week if he were home." Before he turned away and headed back down the ramp.

Natasha caught up to his side and calmly laid a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry, Clint." She said in an unusually soft voice.

Once they had received their briefing packets on the current status of the op and crucial op notes they needed to know to be of use, everyone bid the agents watching, Pepper and Jason along with Fury and Hill a vague wave of goodbye, before closing up the ramp to the plane and making their way to the seats. For once Clint and Nat weren't piloting the jet. Clint kind of wished he could though, to take his mind of Harry. He briefly scanned through the op notes, having already read the majority of them, he then went to the section of the dead agent.

His record was impressive for a 24 year old agent. He already had assisted in one major take down, the assassination of a Dr Mikhail Gretniev. A well-known doctor who specialized in developing torture techniques, specifically using the illusion of pain through medicines, like hallucinogenic drugs and similar substances to break a subject.

The image of the agent was quite striking as well, a young man with blond hair in a military cut and deep blue eyes looked out, the harsh red stamp of 'DECEASED' across his handsome face brought Clint up short. It was a stark reminder of the brutality of their line of work. A fact he often lost sight of, due to having made most of his career without life threatening injuries.

Clint closed the folder and put it back on the side of the plane. Taking a long sip from the overly chilled bottle of water he leant back in his chair, breathing deeply he relaxed into the calm darkness of his mind. Closing his eyes he drifted off to peaceful slumber, awaiting the typical shake of the shoulder from Natasha alerting him that they were about to land. Conscious of the fact he would most likely soon become sleep deprived because of the case he allowed the sleep to engulf him.

Steve leaned over to Natasha and in a quiet voice asked, "Is he good?" Natasha was about to turn and snarl at him that he had no right to poke his 100 year old nose in business that didn't involve him, before he quickly threw his hands up and added, "I didn't ask what was wrong, I asked if he was good." Natasha looked him in the eye, assessing him she nodded.

"He will be." And she turned away and closed her eyes to enter a meditative state and to review the fact she knew in preparation for the mission. If she had listened to her gut, she would have acknowledged that not everything felt right in her mind. But she didn't.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

 **AN - Hey guys, so okay here we go but still getting closer to the much awaited reunion. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, your support keeps me writing so thank you for all of your opinions. If you have any questions do real free to review them to me and I will answer as best i can. Sadly I don't own any of the material it all belongs to the fabulous JK Rowling and Marvel.**

It was roughly 8-9 hours later that Clint felt the tell-tale shake of his shoulder by Natasha as she alerted him to their imminent arrival in England. Clint groaned and mumbled an incoherent "I'm up, I'm up!" He leaned the chair back to its normal position and reached for his now warm bottle of water, taking a large sip he grimaced at the stiffness in his shoulders. Flexing slightly in an attempt to relieve the pain, he managed to heave his sleep addled body from the chair and to the toilets.

"Back in a minute, going to splash some water on my face." He made his way to the toilet and turned on the tap. He looked up and stared at the mirror, that look he got before a mission of pure concentration was now in place and was looking intently back at him. Scooping his hands under the tap to collect the water, he gasped when the abnormally cold temperature made him gasp and real back from the sink in shock. He repeated the action again, this time washing the back of his neck. He turned to the towels and caught sight of Natasha waiting it the door way.

He picked the towel from the railing and rubbed his face and neck dry, instantly feeling better now he left over drowsiness had dissipated. He looked at Nat, seeing she wanted to ask him something he waved his hand to indicate to her to continue. "After you fell asleep, Steve asked if you were good, and I told him you would be. Now I want to know if I made the right call, or if I should have told him that you couldn't get Harry out of your head. Can you work like this Clint? Honestly." She was still leaning, most likely in an attempt to look relaxed but he knew from the careful placement of her arms and the tightness in her shoulder that she was anything but relaxed.

Clint stopped and looked at Natasha. He would be lying to her if he said he was fine, that there was nothing wrong anymore. There would be no moments of uncertainty. He would also be lying if he said he was an utter mess, the feelings he was having about Harry were not new, not by any means. And he had developed a sort of coping mechanism for them over the years. But was he good to complete this mission? "I honestly don't know. But I'm going to do the best I can, I'm sure of that much."

She was conflicted. On one side she wanted to believe him that his obvious honesty was about was true. Then there was a doubt in the back of her mind that the blatant honesty was just a cover to fool her and he knew that he was breaking. Problem was that she didn't know the difference. Natasha always used to work alone, but since being 'saved' by Clint she had learned the value of having a friend in the spy game. "Okay, good. We'll be landing soon so you might want to sit down again."

Clint nodded, placing the towel back down on the rail he turned to follow Natasha back to his seat. As he sat down he heard Tony on the phone to Jason, probably wising the young boy goodnight and a few hints on the construction of his first circuit board. Clint chuckled slightly to himself, remembering an afternoon spent in the field outside his house, teaching a 12 year old Harry to fire a shotgun. It took a while for him to handle the weapon, but after a few shots he had a good handle on it. It as a fond memory for Clint, and he remembered the laughter they had shared together when they came in to find a heavily pregnant Lauren, glaring at them from the kitchen. Apparently he hadn't told Lauren what they were doing and had caused her to have a meltdown in the kitchen from fright when she had heard the gunshots.

He let out an unknowing chuckle as he remembered the ass kicking that followed that particular escapade. He was brought put from his trip down memory lane by Bruce looking at him strangely "You okay Barton?" Bruce had been keeping his distance lately, avoiding the cold front that Nat had been giving him lately. Clint totally agreed with Nat that leaving without saying goodbye was a dick move from Bruce's part, though surprisingly he found himself rooting for the two of them. He hadn't seen that much of a change in Nat for a long time. Happy and content in her life, with her companions.

Clint turned to look at Bruce, "I will be, hopefully." He turned to look at his team mate properly for the first time since he came back. He was tanned, and had more muscle most likely from the physical work he had been doing. Apparently allowing the other guy into his own personality gave him certain benefits, like an increased energy level that made him more inclined to physical work. Funny thing was that even Clint could see that Nat appreciated the new change, hopefully the two of them would work things out.

The sudden bounce of the plane as the tires touched down on the tarmac forced Clint to make eye contact with Bruce he leaned to his left and inclined his head towards Bruce, he muttered, "You want to fix things with her, you give her a proper explanation and promise that you won't be a self-centered dick again and then wait for her to come to you. If she comes back that is." Bruce looked at him, surprise on his face.

"Why would you help me? Everyone else thinks I deserve it." Clint shrugged his shoulders in uncertainty. It was a good question, one that he didn't quite know the answer to. After a minute he nodded his head and smiled.

"Nat's practically been my little sister for going on 16 years now, and I have never seen her like she is with you. I've seen her at her highest and lowest and you are good for her, no matter what she may think." Clint eventually said standing when he realised the plane had come to a halt. He went to the cargo area to ensure that the people unloading didn't damage anything. He looked intently at the men who arrived dressed in black pants and black shirts he commented, "You damage anything and I will break you."

Nat and Bruce chuckled at the comment and then looked at one another, unsure as to the undeniably awkward atmosphere that had suddenly developed. Tony rolled his eyes, saying, "Just kiss and make out for the sake of the rest of us. Don't think we're going to survive much longer with all this sexual tension in the air!" He slipped on his jacket and followed Steve as they made their way to the exit.

Steve shook his head at Tony muttering to him in disbelief "Really Stark?", before the doors opened and the Avengers disembarked.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 **AN - So here we go! I'm actually getting somewhere in the plot line :) Thanks for all the reviews that I've had in response to the last chapter, I can't believe how much everyone enjoyed the story so far. I want to thank specifically SSibs who pointed out some continuity errors, so thank you so much. I will again tell you that I don't own any of the material as it belongs to JK Rowling and Marvel. So enjoy everyone :)**

Their first view of England was not what they had been expecting the team had to admit. In replacement of the normal cold breeze and persistent drizzle that England was well known for was a clear and sunny day, with a slight refreshing breeze. Clint was surprised to say the least, if this was England then he thought he could get used to it. It was then that an older man stepped forward from the rest, a knowing smile on his face.

"Don't get used to it Agent Barton," He said as he approached them, "There's a reason why England has that sort of reputation when it comes to the weather. You're just lucky." He came to a halt directly in front of them. On inspection he was about 6ft2 in height with broad athletic shoulders. He carried himself well, so was probably military or ex-military. The carefully balanced posture indicated a formal training in martial arts. His features were handsome, though obviously scarred, so he stayed behind the scenes as a scar that obvious would not allow him to regularly go undercover anymore.

Steve nodded and held out his hand. "Evening, I'm Steve Rodgers. This is Dr Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton, though I think you already know that." Steve smiled and shook the hand of the Agent.

"I did and my name is Samuel Mirren. I am agent assigned to escort you back to base." He smiled and indicated to the convoy of black cars, indicating to the team get in. Tony looked at the man

"I'm sorry for the loss of your friend." He said to the man, assuming that he was indeed the one supposed to be picking them up as lead agent on the op.

Mirren smiled and shook his head at the team, "He wasn't my friend. The lead Agent you're looking for is back at base as some new Intel has come in and he needs to plan accordingly, so he asked me, as his other friend, to collect you." The team looked at him uncertainly and he chuckled at the obvious looks of distrust and offered the phone to Steve saying, "M's number is on there. Call and check, if you wish."

One phone call later and they were all on their way to base, watching the sites of London pass through the tinted windows.

As they crossed the Vauxhall Bridge, as Mirren had called it, they were met by the impressive sight of the building. Around 10 floors tall and made of white and green stone, to say it was an impressive sight would have been an understatement. Steve, as an avid sketcher, was amazed at the practicality and beauty of the building. As they began to round the building the inner glass structure of the main entrance was glimpsed as they passed, causing another intake of breath at the sheer impressive stance the building took along the river edge. It was indeed imposing and beautiful at the same time.

Mirren caught the looks of the team and began speaking "It's affectionately called by the agents 'Legoland' and was designed by Terry Farrell. The building was finished in April of 1994, and includes a labyrinth of underground tunnels. It has two moats for security evacuations and also includes a sports hall, gymnasium, aerobics studio, and a squash court." The last was said with a smile as the team final turned to look at him in shock.

Bruce looked at him, "A squash court?" He asked.

"Indeed, the M that was in charge at the time of its construction was quite the avid player and often enjoyed play a few matches against the agents before going home." He laughed at the small fact he gave to the team, only adding to their confusion, "Just a small piece of trivia."

A call from the front of the car alerted the team to their imminent arrival. A nod of conformation from Mirren had them approaching a checkpoint to the vehicle entrance of the building.

"Evening Todd," The driver said to the man who approached the window, he swiftly flashed the car ID badge as well as his own.

"Evening Casper, who have we got here?" The man looked over the car passenger manifest and peered into the back. Laughing in shock he exclaimed "Well bugger me backward, it really is the Avengers. Big fan of yours." Todd said, as he ticked of a check list and bid them goodbye.

"Sorry about that, the lower ranking member of MI6, everyone from cleaners to junior agents are rather excited to meet you." The driver – Casper, Clint reminded himself, said ruefully and the team just chuckled. They were all quite used to attention from others, in their line of work it was an occupational hazard.

Going past the check point and underground they made their way left toward a well-lit area. When the car came to a halt they waited, unsure as to normal procedure. Apparently that was the right move as not a moment later the door swung open and Mirren nodded to exit the car.

Taking in the entrance they were amazed at the view that met them. A finely crafted marble structure was behind them supporting the ceiling above. The entrance way was just as spectacular, though more practical. The stonework gave way to an open glass walkway. Hidden at the side within the walls was what Bruce presumed were the emergency gates. Typically they were made of steel and not so spectacular, though upon closer inspection as they entered he doubted even the other guy could break through them.

As they made their way through the building, often stopping to look at specific areas or to talk to people who wished to say thank you or good luck or simply just to greet them. Eventually the halls began to become smaller and less elaborate. They descended the stairs to an open area. In the centre was a hub, huge and circular with display panels above the consoles that face inwards. On the other side of the path surrounding the main console was an outer ring of individual computers. All around the edge of the room were doors, large oak doors Clint realized.

To say that the team was impressed was an understatement, Tony especially appreciated the technology set up. Though he had the same level of appreciation for SHIELD, being openly impressed in front of the agents would not do his persona any good. Here though he allowed himself to, as Pepper would say, drool over the gear.

Mirren once again spoke up explaining what they were seeing. "This particular room is solely dedicated to our op. We have video feeds, audio feeds, agent communication lines and people who co-ordinate with the leaders. You'll meet the lead agent when he come out of the briefing, word of warning though he is rather young. He is in charge of this op because he is the best man for it; he is very highly skilled and is deserving of your respect and my friend, okay." The team all nodded their acceptance but it was Natasha who spoke up.

"If he's that good then why the need to warn us?" the team looked up at that, it was after all a fair question. Mirren nodded his head before answering

"The last joint case he worked, the people who came in to assist believed he was to young and naïve to successfully do the job. That particular conversation led to a fist fight and many broken bones." He shook his head at the absurd nature of the situation. Steve looked slightly unnerved.

"Well maybe he is if he ends things in fist fights." The team noticed the change in atmosphere and the uncomfortable feeling of tension settled over them. Mirren looked at him sharply, resting both his hands on the metal rail he looked out over the room before he spoke.

"He wasn't involved; it was Agent Portmill who took exception to an insult like that. They were very good friends, so try to remember that. As much as he denies that it's not an issue he is still hurting." He paused for a moment letting out a rueful chuckle as he shook his head, "I suppose they were closer than brothers in most people's eyes." He turned to the team and looked at each of them saying, "He's a highly skilled agent and a true asset to this op. We're lucky to have him."

The Avengers all turned to look out over the railing as they watched the agents below going about their business. They were brought out of their individual musings by the creak of a large oak door.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **AN - So here we go, the long awaited resolution to the cliff hanger that I left you on last chapter. i would apologize but I felt that I needed to end the chapter there. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed, I have never had such a large response to one single chapter. I will again say that as much as I regret it i don't own any of this, it all belongs to JK Rowling and Marvel. So enjoy the chapter, i hope you love it! :)**

The solid oak door swung open and a group of agent exited the room. It was the last man that caught Clint's attention, and suddenly his heart rate skyrocketed. The tall man, about 5'11'', shook hands with the fellow agents and ran his hand through the familiar unruly black hair. He looked older now, Clint thought, taller an more filled out but he would never mistake those emerald green eyes that met his as he stood atop the walk way. Confusion coursed through him as they made their way down to the main room.

Mirren approached the group of agents leading the Avengers toward them. Waiting patiently for them to finish, gave Clint the time to look at him properly. He was easily taller than him, though he had the lean figure of a swimmer. Fitted in a nicely tailored suit he carried himself with a confidence that Clint had not seen as a young boy. Finishing the conversation he smiled when he saw Mirren and warmly welcomed the agent with a pat on the shoulder and a firm handshake, turning to the Avengers Harry's eyes immediately fell on Clint.

Recognition coursed through him, replaced suddenly with shock. Then nothing at all. The familiar mask that fell in place shocked Clint, before he left Harry had been an open book. Now though he was a Special Agent, an adult. Most importantly though his son.

Harry shook himself at the sudden realization, remembering that Steve was patiently waiting to shake his hand he made the rounds as Mirren introduced them. When he reached Clint Mirren continued none the wiser.

"And this is Agent Clint Barton, code name Hawk-Eye." Harry smiled ruefully, nodding his head he looked at Mirren

"Oh yes, I know this man Mirren." He patted the agent on the shoulders before stepping forward. Hands clasped awkwardly behind his back, he made eye contact with him, "Hey… dad."

The team took a double take at the address. Harry held out a hand in an uncertain greeting, flexing his fingers slightly. Clint drew himself up in an attempt to appear more confident than he actually felt. "Hello, son."

As soon as an acceptable length of time had passed, they released each other and Harry hurriedly stepped back and addressed the team. Falling into the more secure role as team leader he drew his broad shoulders back and lifted his head slightly.

"As you heard I am Harry Barton, and I'm the lead agent on this op. As you are going to be working nonstop on this op you have been provided with on base accommodation to which I will show you momentarily." He paused for a moment composing himself before he continued. "This room is the central hub for everything on this op. The rooms surrounding it are varied from weapons room to a secure conference room. I will show you round those tomorrow as we are unlikely to get much done today besides briefing you and allowing you to get a handle on the jet lag you all undoubtedly have."

Just then a man stepped forward holding a clipboard that he quickly handed over before hurrying of to do doubt complete another job. Harry looked up at the others "Those men are called runners. They set meeting and briefings up, deliver result of test and updated Intel, they can tell you anything you need to know, as well as give you a location of every agent in the building if you are looking for someone specific." Harry briefly looked at the list murmuring occasionally to Mirren before looking up at the team, "We have a 5 o'clock briefing tomorrow morning so let's get you settled in and deal with the standard questions."

Mirren and Harry then began to make their way over a side door located beneath the walkway that they had previously been standing on. Following after them Clint ignored the looks he was getting form the rest of the team in favour of watching his newly reunited son. It was tense to say the least between them. Though Clint now had an idea as to why Harry had never contacted the family, it still angered him that he had not even bothered to say goodbye. Harry and his siblings were as close as any blood relations, if not closer. Lewis in particular, had seen Harry as a role model, had been heartbroken when he had suddenly left and stopped contacting anyone.

It was then that Clint was pulled from his thought as Harry and Mirren stopped in a comfortable circular room. It had 5 doors leading from it, and the room itself held multiple sofas and arm chairs, with a TV, radio and a table at the back, just off from what looked like a small kitchenette. Harry turned to face them.

"There's a room for each of you. Your personal weapons have been delivered to the armoury to which you can check on them later if you wish. There is a safe in each of your rooms for any personal effects if you wish to put them there. A phone is in each room as your phones will not work down here. You each have a bed, wardrobe and desk, as well as an en suite bathroom that has been fully stocked." He rattled the basics of with a natural ease though Clint noticed that out of the whole team he had yet probably be looked at.

Harry then said that if they wished he could show them the armory now or in the morning after the briefing. Opting to get settled in and make phone calls home the team said they would look at the armory in the morning.

Harry nodded as he and Mirren made their way to the door saying "A runner will be down to collect you at 4:30. Dinner will be delivered here in about 30 minuets, have a good night. If you need anything, buzz the intercom by the door and a runner will sort you out." He nodded his head, as the team began to dispersed he glanced at Clint saying "Say hi to mum and the guys for me?" Clint gave a sharp nod of confirmation to Harry, before he swiftly fled the room leaving the team looking expectantly at Clint, awaiting an explanation.

Clint caught the looks they were giving him and ignoring them made his way to the furthest door to the right. He swung the door open with more force than necessary before closing the door on the rest of the team.

Harry made his way over to his accommodation, along the blank and dark corridors he allowed himself to lose himself in the familiar surroundings. He remembered a time when he was young, when he thought he and his father would always face the world together, that they would never be anything but best friends. He knew it was a child's naivety that had created that dream, but even as he grew up Harry and his father had always been close, they did everything together. Now here he stood once again feeling like a scolded 10 year old under his father's gaze. He truly had missed his family, and had yearned for the day when he could return home to them.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **AN - I want to thank everyone who has reviewed/favorite/followed the story so far, the response to the story has been beyond amazing. I have got a lot of reviews asking about his back story and I plan on doing a series of one shots when I'm finished to fill in the gaps of Harry's past, but to answer a direct question Harry did attend boarding school, just not in England though it is explained later in the story. I sadly don't own any of the material, it all belongs to JK Rowling and Marvel :( I hope that you enjoy the chapter! :)**

Clint leant against the door frame as he slowly lost his ability to stand. He slid down the door and onto the floor, the pure weight of the changing situation suddenly hitting him. He grappled his way to the safe in the wall to the left, seeing the phone he quickly entered the familiar number that he had long ago memorised. Only three rings later, though they seemed to be slower than normal, the phone connected, an uncertain voice came over from the other end.

" _Hello_?" Clint let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, as relief over took him.

"Hey Lauren, it's me." He said in a shaky voice hoping that she wouldn't hear it. Apparently he wasn't that lucky.

" _Clint? Sweetheart what's wrong? And don't tell me nothing I can hear it in your voice._ " Oh yes she knew him very well.

"Well I guess I have good news actually." He was reluctant to call it that, but in all honesty it was.

" _Oh, well don't keep me in suspense then, what is it?"_ She said in slightly playful tone, he wondered how long that would took a breath to calm his nerves again.

"It's Harry," he heard her let out a small gasp but continues going anyway, "I'm working with him Lauren, he's so grown up it's hardly believable."

" _Harry. Our Harry? Oh, how is he Clint? Why hasn't he contacted us?"_ The obvious pain in Lauren's voice hurt Clint like a physical injury. Though he had been the one to take Harry in, it was Lauren who had adopted him without a second thought when they got married. She had always stayed with him.

"It probably had something to do with him being a member of MI6, they most likely had a gag order on him because we lived in a different country, national secrets and all that." He shrugged his shoulders. That's what he wanted to believe, he knew that all agents were given the option to cut ties with their families to avoid accidentally putting them in danger because of the people he went after. He would believe that until told otherwise.

" _What else is there?"_ It was amazing how she did that over the phone, thousands of miles away she could still read him like a book.

"It's just… I can't get over the anger. He just left, told us nothing. He was gone. And it… it hurts that after everything he found it so easy to walk away from us. Did I really mean that little to him?" admitting to her that even when he got his son back, he was still consumed by anger was harder than he originally thought it would be. He could hear the sigh from the other end of the phone as he went off on that oh so familiar tirade.

" _You're forgetting something Clint. He was my son too. He didn't just leave you, he left us."_ That brought Clint up short, he was normally very good at remembering that Harry and Lauren had been close, _"And how do you know that he found it easy. We were the first and only family he had, and he loved us. I can't believe that the boy I helped raise would leave so quietly unless he had no choice."_ As usual she made a valid point, not that it was easy to hear.

"I know, you're right. I just wish things were still easy between us." He shook his head in an attempt to clear his head.

" _I know. What you need to do is sit down and have a good long talk, clear the air."_ How he was supposed to achieve this Clint didn't know. By the looks of things Harry wasn't that inclined to talk to him unless it was about the op. Which would make said good long talk difficult to say the least. Evidently Lauren could here the doubt in his voice.

" _I don't care how difficult it is or when, but it needs to happen Clint. You know this."_ The stern tone reminded him again of the tellings off he and Harry had regularly got many years ago.

Clint nodded, "Yeah, I know."

" _You should get some sleep sweetheart, if you're going to be of any help to our son tomorrow you should rest,"_ Clint murmured his agreement, " _get something to eat as well, okay?"_

"Yeah, okay. Tell everyone I love them, yeah?" He let out a rueful smile as he knew that on one of the only occasions that Lewis would be home, he wasn't. Lauren laughed, causing Clint to smile

" _You tell Harry I love him, and to come home soon, okay_." Clint doubted again that Harry could do that but agreed none the less.

"Okay. Take care of everyone for me."

" _I will. Love you Clint_."

"Love you too Ren." He smiled and took a deep breath as he hung up the phone. Replacing the phone in the safe and adding his personal things in it he closed the safe and took a moment to remember the code.

Turning back to look into the room he caught the sound of the food no doubt arriving, preparing himself for the onslaught he new he would face as soon as he stepped out of the room. He turned to his bag and withdrew the photo frame he carried to as many missions as he could. It was a simple picture of Harry's 14th birthday dinner with the family huddled at the end of the dinner table all facing the camera. He and Lauren were in the middle, holding a 5 year old Amelia in their arms, with Lewis and Harry standing behind them, a 3 year old Adam happily in Harry's arms. They were all smiling broadly at the camera without a care in the world.

It was a quiet knock that brought him out of him memories calling out to the person, "Yeah, what is it?" He gently placed the photo on the bedside table as the person responded.

"Dinner's here Barton," so it was Steve, strange normally Nat came to get him if necessary.

"Yeah I'm coming." He turned to the door and opened it, taking in the unusually relaxed figure of the leader of their group, he was dressed in jeans and a polo t-shirt which was a change from his usual attire of jeans and a shirt. He took a breath and closed the door behind them.

They made their way over to the group who had begun happily tucking in to the meal that had been delivered. "Hey Clint," Natasha offered a small smile and offered him a tray of what looked like Chinese take out. Eagerly taking it he raised his eye brows in query as to the plan for the evening, "We were thinking we could familiarise ourselves with the case as none of us are particularly tired." She said, informing him of the plan and avoiding any uncomfortable questions that Tony no doubt wanted to ask. Nodding his acceptance he settled himself down with in an armchair and began eating.

It was Steve who broke the silence first, "Okay so what do we know about Anton Baclovitch?" He asked to the team as he navigated a particularly large mouthful of egg fried rice.

It was Tony who started, "Well you know that bombing in 2002, the Bali bombing?" Steve nodded in response, "Yeah well the three bombs that were used, supplied to them already built by Mr Baclovitch" The team stilled, while Steve had only read about the incident, the others had all witnessed it from various locations around the globe. Though not as life changing as 9/11 it had certainly been an eye opener to the real threats out there.

"Okay so how far does he go, what kinds of stuff does he sell?" It was Natasha that answered having looked over known purchases list in the file closely.

"Everything from small fire arms to nuclear warheads, if you can name it then he's sold it at some point." As the conversation continued Clint realised that as the only spy and therefore the one with more in depth knowledge, she was being very quiet. She was focused intently on her food, only glancing occasionally at Steve to keep track of what was being said. An hour or so later the group had finished and had cleaned up the food containers, Clint saw Natasha heading off to the exit of the accommodation. Catching Bruce's eye he indicated to the man he should follow her. Seeing his hesitance to follow Clint made his way over to Bruce and after putting his plate down gave the man a forceful shove in on the shoulder.

Seeing that Bruce now seemed to have taken the hint and followed Nat, Clint cleared up the last of his belongings from the main room and after wishing everyone goodnight, made his way to his room. Changing from his SHIELD gear into a pair of cotton pants, he sent one last text to Lauren 'Night gorgeous, sweet dreams xxx' before setting the alarm and finally drifting off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **AN - So here we are, another chapter and again the responce to the last chapter was beyond amazing! I'm so glad that you all like it so much. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed your questions are always taken into account with the story. Sadly I don't own any of the material that is either Harry Potter or Avengers the credit for this goes to JK Rowling and Marvel. I hope that you enjoy the chapter :)**

 _Clint glanced at his watch. 0210. Well this was not how he had envisioned spending the night. When he had been sent over to London, England he had been told it had been a long term surveillance op and that it would be a weekend job at the worst case scenario. That had changed of course because it was Clint on the op and he had taken one look at the surveillance and had said that it was sub-standard and he would do his own before even contemplating taking out the target._

 _That hadn't gone down well with the bosses. Not that Clint cared, though he did take exception to the fact that they thought he was just prolonging the mission because he had nothing better to do. Not only was that unprofessional but there was also a beautiful woman waiting in his bed when he got home, not that he had told anyone that. Lauren. She was different, Clint hated how ridiculous that sounded and the cliché made him wince, but it was true. She didn't pry into what he did, as soon as he had said he wasn't allowed to talk about it she had nodded and said if he needed to talk about anything and it wasn't classified then she would listen gladly. That had surprised him if he was honest._

 _So that was why he was currently sat in an alley across from the hotel watching a meet between the guy he was staking out and a buyer, taking notes about the discussion and running down possible scenarios Clint watched carefully as the two men shook hands, he continued snapping pictures of the two men as the made their exit. After the two men went their separate ways after dinner, Clint was about to move out to follow the main target when he heard movement behind him at the end of the alley._

 _Placing everything in his backpack and pulling out his side arm - he wasn't allowed to carry his bow when doing surveillance as apparently it was too conspicuous - so a side arm was his only weapon until the actual take down. Just as he started to move off he was startled by a noise coming from the other end of the alley. Keeping to the shadows he slowly made his way down to the end, if Clint listened carefully he would have sworn it was a child whimpering making the need to investigate even more important. As he came to the end of the alley he came across a row of bins, hearing the whimpering noise increasing, he turned slightly to face the noise. Clint began to make his way toward it, as the whimpering grew closer Clint drew in a gasp as he first laid eyes on the shadow that sat huddled between the bins._

 _The fragile figure of a small child squatting between the bins tore at Clint in every way. As the young boy sat underneath the flickering street light, it allowed the agent to get a look at the small boy who had recently noticed he was being watched. As the boy looked at him he was shocked with what he saw, a thin and pinched face that was stained with tears, large emerald green eyes that were looking back at him from underneath a mop of jet black hair that stood out at gravity defying angles. Realising the boy was most likely very jumpy and skittish around those larger than him Clint slipped his weapon into the holster and shrugged off his rucksack and jacket._

 _He slowly crouched down onto the back of his heels and holding his hands out in a universal gesture of surrender, he took a deep breath "Hey there, my names Clint, Clint Barton. Can you… can you tell me… uh your name?" He got a small glance in response from the boy but he made no indication that he was going to reply to the older man, nodding in acceptance Clint continued, "I'm 24 years old, how old are you little man?"_

 _The young man glanced in his direction slightly, green eyes surveying him, as if assessing whether he was trustworthy. He shivered slightly, rubbing his abnormally thin hands over his upper arms in an attempt to warm himself up. After a moment he glanced up and looked Clint in the eye, "H… Harry." He murmured in an overly timid voice that made Clint shiver in thought at what the boy may have been through._

" _Harry. That's a strong name." The boy – Harry, glanced up and looked at Clint with a small flicker of doubt on his face. Smiling Clint chuckled, "Yeah. Harry is short for Harold, it means power, leader, ruler. It's a kings name. A man who leads nations." Harry's eyes lightened at the comment, obviously not accustomed to getting compliments. Grabbing his black thermal jacket he opened it out to Harry saying, "Hey buddy, can you come out for me."_

 _Harry shook his head, shrinking back into the corner even further and wrapping the dirt stained shirt that was ripped and holey entirely around his alarmingly thin frame. Nodding his head in acceptance Clint laid the shirt to the side for a moment. Looking at Harry he waited quietly until 5 minutes later the young boy began to shuffle his way out of the gap to stand in front of Clint._

 _Smiling at the sudden change Clint gestured to the jacket on the floor, waiting for an indication of approval to be manhandled by Clint. After receiving a shy and uncertain nod Clint slowly reached for the jacket, picked it up and wrapped it around the young boy. "Are you okay to come with me Harry?" Clint said holding out his much larger hand. The young man nodded and took his hand as they turned and slowly began walking to the end of the alley._

Gasping suddenly Clint was pulled from the dream abruptly. Looking over to the clock on the bed side table and seeing it only read 02:37am Clint sighed in frustration before rolling over and returning to sleep.

Bruce hurried out the door, trailing behind Natasha as she wandered the corridors. It took about 15 minutes of wandering in the identical concrete corridors before they came across the gym and she had long since noticed that he was following her. Ignoring him she entered the gym, stripped off her jacket and threw it on the bench on the side. Turning to the back of the gym she turned the radio on and allowed the music to fill the room. After doing a series of stretches - still continuing to ignore Bruce, she walked up to the treadmill and set it to an 8 mile run.

Bruce raised his eyebrows, from what he had seen of before the Ultron incident she only did 5 miles at night if she was trying to settle her mind. Pulling up a stool he sat himself down and made himself comfortable for a long wait. He loved this about her - he realised that now that he did actually love her – not that he deserved to – though from his entirely male point of view he was very much enjoying the benefits of sitting behind as she ran. The view was spectacular if he did say so himself. Bringing his mind back to more appropriate thoughts he began to consider how to word this particular apology.

In all honesty, he would most likely categorise this as groveling owing to his incredibly dick move after Ultron. Seeing that she had had sufficient time to gather her thoughts he took a breath, stood and made his way over to the side of the treadmill. "Nat, can we talk?" She continued running, maintaining focus on the wall as she kept up her rhythm. Realising that she wasn't going to respond he continued, "Ok, silent treatment. If I talk will you listen?" She didn't say anything, but gestured her hand in a vague motion for him to continue.

Nodding Bruce began, "Good." There was a long pause as he shuffled his feet, uncertain of where to start, "I'm sorry. I was a dick of epic proportions and I ignored the team but more importantly I ignored you. The only person who has respected me, not because of the Hulk but because of me, I took advantage of you and I regret it. Not only did I walk away from you but I abandoned you for 10 years. For what it's worth I am truly sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me now but I hope at some point in the future you can. I just wanted you to know that."

Seeing that she hadn't acknowledged his words and was unlikely to do so, Bruce returned the stool to its original place in the corner and once again took a seat, going through his meditation ritual he had set up long ago. After completing the series of breathing exercises he flexed his shoulders and looked once again at Natasha, pleased to see that she too had begun her cool down routine he stood and began to make his way to the door. Glancing at his watch it read 01:30am. Knowing that he didn't do well on so little sleep he opened the door but stopped before exiting and turned back to Nat, "Make sure you get some sleep, we'll be pretty busy tomorrow no doubt." Bruce then left the gym, the door closing with a click as he left.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **AN - Okay so thank you everyone who has reviewed the last chapter, I am pleased to announce that I have reached an amazing 399 follows and 207 favourites! So I want to say I love you all my faithful readers. So after the slight hint of Brutasha last chapter we now return to the case. I sadly don't own the below material it all belongs to JK Rowling and Marvel. I hope you enjoy the chapter! :)**

Just as Harry had promised a runner came by at 0430 to pick them up, leading the sleep deprived team of Avengers through the hallways. They were met with a stressed Harry standing talking to another tech in the center of the Hub. The runner indicated for them to wait until Harry had finished talking. Clint took a moment to check on Harry. He stood there in black tracksuit pants and a grey fitted t-shirt. His hair was out of control and Clint was sure that the man hadn't slept at all that night.

Realising Harry had finished and was making his way towards them; he drew his eyes away from him and scanned the room to distract himself. "Morning guys, how was your night?" Harry said as he met the team by the center console. Grinning Steve confirmed that though the jet lag was still an issue they were good to get started. Nodding Harry walked them into the briefing room to meet the other agents working the team.

Upon entering the room there were two other people waiting in the room, one woman and one man both close to Harry's age. The team entered the room, slowly made their way to the table and sat down on the chairs closest to the doors. Harry walked up to the other agents and happily greeted them. The Avengers sat watching, their curiosity piqued at the familiarity between the three of them.

It was Tony who spoke up first, "How do you think they know each other?" He muttered to the rest of the team as they continued to watch. "I mean they have to know each other well, he only shook hands with Mirren and they said they were friends."

The team realized that, for once Tony was making a good point. The ease with which they were getting along spoke to Steve of a long and deep friendship. Harry laughed at something the male agent said before hugging the woman and placing a light kiss on her cheek before turning to the team. He smiled as he approached the Avengers with the two agents in tow.

"Okay everyone this is a very good friend of mine and a fellow agent on this op, Rowan Marshall," Harry said gesturing to the man who was about 5'10'' with dark blond hair in military cut. He had broad shoulders and was a lot more muscular than Harry. He smiled widely upon introduction and nodded his head to the team in greeting. Harry then continued, "And to my left is the main tormentor in my life, bane of my existence Sophia Taylor." He said as he gestured with a wide smile, "All jokes aside she's a very good friend and a true asset to this op. They both are." The woman in question was about 5'6'' with shoulder length wavy brown hair and dark blue eyes. She had an athletic build and a friendly face as she smiled at the team and murmured a quiet 'Hi' before Harry continued.

"Okay, so update. Baclovitch has been spotted coming into Istanbul, Turkey with two of his own personal guards. He arrived this morning at 0400 coming from Shanghai and immediately went to Jumeirah Pera Palace Hotel. He checked into a Presidential Suite at around £2500 a night, so rather pricey for anyone other than Baclovitch," He gave a small smile and Sophia let out a chuckle at the inside joke, Rowan only shook his head at the other two agent's joking, "Anyway, intel indicates he is there to befriend some new buyers for a larger future intake of what he affectionately calls 'merchandise'" Harry was about to continue the briefing when a tall man entered the room, his greying hair slicked back and his face wrinkled. He carried himself with an arrogance that spoke to a deep history in this particular world, he shut the door and the briefing stopped and everyone turned to look at him.

"Which provides us with a unique opportunity, wouldn't you say Barton?" Both Clint and Harry looked at the man directly before Clint realised it was not him being addressed but his son. Looking away he watched as the two of them met at the side of the room.

"Sir, always good to see you." Harry held out his hand and shook hands with the man, offering him a polite nod, "Can I help you with something Montague? I was in the middle of a briefing." Clint could tell that the greeting was beyond forced.

The man glared "Chief of Staff Montague to you Barton," he gave a sneer before turning to the team and addressing them, "I have just gotten off the phone with the Board and M, they believe it to be in the best interests of this case that a deep cover op is put in place." He looked at the team before turning toward Harry, "Good luck Barton, you've been chosen. You can begin to prep and get the team ready to back you up."

The team sat there in shock, unsure as to what had just happened, Harry turned to the older man and went to step in front of him, "Sir, this was never an undercover op. Why are they suddenly changing in direction?"

The man was about to respond when Clint intervened. "Yeah, no that's not happening. He's barely old enough to be an agent. There's no way he can handle a mission this big. He's just not experienced enough yet." Clint by now had stood and was face to face with the older man. In the heat of the moment though he had missed the look that Harry was giving him.

"Dad, stand down. This has nothing to do with you." Harry attempted to stop Clint but was unsuccessful.

"Harry, I don't think you understand what this guy is capable off. There is no way you could possibly have the experienced for an op as dangerous as this?"

"Clint, stop! I can handle this." The Avengers watching could see that though Clint was oblivious to Harry, the man was slowing losing what little patience he had left.

"Surely there must be another agent that can do this!" It was then that Clint finally noticed Harry, who had gone utterly still, green eyes blazing with fury.

"I'm sorry, and how would you know that? We haven't talked in 10 years - the last time you saw me I was 16. You don't get a say in what I do." By now Harry was directly in front of Clint, shouting in pure uncontrolled rage, "This is my job _father_ and if you can't handle it then we're done. He killed my brother and if the bosses say I'm in for the op, then I'm in for the op!" Clint reeled back in surprise, this was not the son he knew.

Turning away from Clint and the row of shocked faces of the Avengers, Harry looked at the older man and drew his shoulders back "Yes Chief, I'll get ready immediately." The older man smiled and nodded his head before biding the team goodbye and leaving the room.

Rowan and Sophia then approached Harry and began to speak quietly to one another - as the voices began to become more agitated Harry stepped up and put an end to the conversation with "He forced my hand, had Clint not questioned my ability's I wouldn't have had to take the op. So yes it's a shitty situation and I don't want to be there but I don't have a choice. Now I'm going to pick up my packet and go and see Q to get a weapon. I'll see you guys later."

Nodding to the rest of the Avengers – pointedly ignoring Clint when he said "Harry! Harry wait… wait!" Harry left the room leaving the two other agents with the team of Avengers. An uncomfortable silence fell around them.


	10. Chapter 10

Rowan sighed in defeat "Okay let's go get some breakfast and prepare for the undercover op. A room will be provided for you so you can prep your equipment and other stuff that you may need. A runner will be provided to you in case you need anything."

Meanwhile Harry made his way to the barber; apparently he needed smartening up if he was going to be doing business with Baclovitch. As he made his way down the corridors, other agents parting like the proverbial Red Sea, his thoughts traveled to Clint. Why he had felt the need to intervene was beyond Harry, they hadn't even spoken in 10 years and suddenly he was jumping to his defense. Not that he had needed it, no he had made do without him for 10 years and he had been fine.

So why the sudden need to defend him? Did his father still care about him or was he just smacking him down in front of his superior officers out of bitterness? Harry shook those thoughts from his head as he continued to make his way to the barber. Knocking briskly on the door he instructed the man inside on what he needed. Going through details of what Harry needed the man spoke quickly with a practiced and concise ease as Harry sat down on the chair and waited.

It only took 10 minutes before he was done and checking the bill to the Department D, which dealt with deep cover. If they wanted to send him undercover then they could pay for it, Harry though bitterly. He didn't mind going deep cover but he wished that Clint had just stayed out of it and hadn't got involved. Walking out of the room he made his way to M's office.

Waiting quietly outside the office until he was called, he thought back to the photo in his wallet pocket. The photo of his 14th birthday after dinner, with the whole family around the table smiling happily, better times Harry knew and he hoped desperately that he would one day get to see them again. Just as he was getting the urge to look at the photo a woman spoke to him through the intercom.

"Mr. Barton, M will see you now." The curt address was all Harry needed before he entered the office with a brisk knock on the door. Hearing a murmur from M, summoning him in he opened the door and walked in, standing at ease in front of the desk, waiting to be addressed.

"Take a seat Harry," The sudden change in approach made Harry smile. He had a close relationship with M, having had a lot in common with the older woman and enjoying her cynical sense of humour, "You're making me nervous with your twitching."

Harry smiled at the woman and complied, taking a seat on the chair closest to the desk, he liked it when they spoke in a more relaxed environment. "I'm sorry about the current situation Harry, I attempted to get another agent assigned to the op but you were the best and they were the only team to be able to assist."

Harry nodded his head, knowing that she had done everything she could have done. "I know. It just all caught me by surprise I guess. I thought I could keep it together in front of my father but I… I lost my temper and it made me make mistakes." Harry shook his head

"Yes… well, at least you know that and you can learn from it. Now onto the undercover op. You are going under as James Conway, 26 years old and born in Surrey, Ex - Royal Marine Commandos. Dishonorably discharged after engaging in an unauthorized fire fight with Afghani civilians, wounding 9 and killing 5," Harry winced, understanding dawning on him as to the type of mental space this was going to have to maintain to get this op done, "When you came home, your fiancé left you and you went into black-market deals in every type of fire arm you could get your hands on." She closed the file and slid it over the desk to him, nodding he smiled at M.

"Oh… so I'm a real character then." He shook his head at some of the cover ID's the agency seemed to be able to come up with. M let out a small smile of agreement before going over the specifics of the op.

"You are going under for a long as necessary to gain as much trust as is possible and to put together as many deals as needed. Any money you need will be provided to you through an off shore account that you will be living off. Throw money around and live big for a while, Okay?" Harry nodded, realising the briefing was coming to an end he smiled and took the file from the desk. Shaking hands with her he turned and left the office, smiling at the quiet reminder to stay safe.

Back with the Avengers in the tech room as they had named it, after briefing them on the situation between himself and Harry, Clint finally felt that he could start to work effectively. The questions that followed had been the normal ones he was expecting 'Why did he leave?' 'Why haven't you contacted him?' and more importantly 'Why didn't you tell us?'

By the time they had finished it was Bruce who spoke up about the situation in the briefing room "So if you haven't spoken in 10 years, why did you get involved back in the briefing room?" The Avengers stopped working to listen to the response. Clint paused, he hadn't been expecting that to come up and especially not from Bruce.

"I'm his father," was the first thing that came to his head, wincing he continued, "I was worried for him and I wanted to protect him so when things went past my comfort zone I stepped in." The finality of the statement shocked the team.

Bruce was quiet for a moment before responding, "So if you're his father why didn't you trust him to handle it on his own? And why step in when things got past _your_ comfort zone? Sounds to me like Harry had that under control until you stepped in." Clint turned on Bruce, the truth of the statement hurt like a physical injury and Clint couldn't help but have to agree with him. Not that he wanted to. Bruce, seeing the anger on Clint's face, continued quickly, "I'm not doubting you, I'm just trying to get you to see this from Harry's opinion. You, for lack of a better term, made him look like a complete idiot in front of a man who he obviously doesn't get on with."

Clint looked at Bruce, is that really what Harry thought, that Clint wanted to humiliate him in front of this other man? He hadn't thought of it like that, but Bruce was right, he hadn't let Harry handle the situation on his own. Clint knew he had to talk to him before he left and get things straightened out, but having a conversation like that was going to be difficult, not to mention awkward.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 **AN - Okay so another chapter here, this one is a bit shorter than usual but it kind of sets up to the next chapter. Than you to everyone who has reviewed and favorited and followed and all those lovely things. I love you all! Sadly I don't own any of the material it all belongs to Marvel and JK Rowling. I hope you enjoy the chapter! :)**

Sighing Clint approached the runner at the door, "Can you tell me where Harry Barton is please, I need to speak with him." The team turned away and continued to work on whatever they happened to be working on at the moment. The runner nodded, not asking questions, he brought up the location and gave him the directions. Looking at the map Clint thought it looked like some type of break room.

Making his way through the corridors Clint finally found the break room and in it Harry, he was hunched over a table with a folder in front of him and a large mug of black coffee in the other. His shoulders were tensed and his face stern, Clint winced. He knew Harry was going to attempt to avoid this conversation but he had to force Harry to at least explain why he had disappeared.

Entering the room Clint poured himself a cup of black coffee when a voice came, "Get it from the pot at the end, the grind is better." Harry's voice was monotonous and void of any emotion, well at least he wasn't angry. Though one look at the glare he was currently giving him changed the statement to outwardly angry. Clint approached the chair opposite and sat down just as Harry closed the folder and looked up, "Undercover notes, getting to know the new me."

Clint looked at Harry uncertain where to start, "I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance to explain earlier and I'm sorry I humiliated you in front of that stuck up twat in the briefing room. I know I haven't seen you in 10 years and I have no right to dictate your life, but when I saw that guy looking so fucking happy about putting you on a mission that could easily get you killed, I just lost my temper. I now it didn't help in the slightest and I only made things harder for you." Clint risked a look at Harry at that point and seeing the slightly relaxed face he continued, "You're still my son, to both Lauren and myself, you still have siblings who love you and are dying to see you again. Not to mention the fact that you have yet to meet Nathaniel."

Harry looked up at that, he didn't know he had another sibling. One that he hadn't met and who only knew him by stories. Guilt washed over him, he may not have met him but he could have called. "I'm going to be honest with you too dad. After I finished my training I had the option to reconnect with you, but I'd just signed the contract to go to into deep cover, meaning I'd be gone from days to possibly years at a time and I didn't want to put you guys through that." He took a calming sip of coffee before he continued speaking, "I knew you would be in and out because of SHIELD and I didn't want to make the little guys," Clint smiled at the nickname that Harry used as a child for his younger siblings, "go through that with the only two male role models they had. I figured when I was done in MI6 and retired I could go home or make a new home somewhere if you didn't want me anymore."

By now Clint understood why Harry had done what he had done. And as usual Lauren was right. Standing he picked the younger man from the chair and drew him into a hug, not a common occurrence when Harry was a teen, but was currently being eagerly returned. Cupping the back of Harry's head, Clint whispered "You will always have a home with us, no matter what you have done or how long you are gone. It's what makes it home Harry." The two men then sat together in silence, enjoying just being quiet in one another presence.

It was an hour later, after the consumption of more coffee than necessary when a runner came to the break room requesting Harry and Clint for a meeting with M. The two men happily got up, having spent the time catching up and getting to know one another again, and exited the room. Following the runner they chatted quietly as they made their way down the hallway and into the waiting room for the call to alert them to enter.

Clint, seeing the faces of his team nodded his head causing the team to let out a breath of relief, meanwhile a similar exchange was occurring between Harry, Rowan and Sophia. Harry nodded to the rest of the team and took a seat next to Sophia, the two of them quietly conversing as they waited. Clint sat next to Nat and Steve, Steve quietly enquired "How did it go with Harry?" The team all turned to look at Clint, hoping that it had at least become less hostile and they were speaking to one another again. Otherwise it was going to be rather difficult to work the op.

Clint let out a relieved smile and ran his hand through his hair. "It went well actually, we had a good long talk and I think we both understand each other a little better. Turns out he was scared of what coming back and then having to leave again indefinitely would do to the family. Seeing as both Harry and I have similar demands from our jobs, he didn't want to keep having to leave and put strain on the family, so he cut ties completely." The team all nodded their heads, understanding suddenly dawning on them as they could all understand not wanting to put loved ones through the emotional strain.

Nat smiled "So he had a good reason to then?" Clint smiled and nodded again letting out a small laugh as he did so. They were all caught by surprise when they suddenly heard a voice over the intercom, announcing that they could all enter.

Harry nodded to the two agents at the door and waved the rest of the team through the large oak doors Harry, Rowan and Sophia brought up the rear and entered the room last, closing the door behind them. The agents stepped up into their usual places at the center of the room, directly in front of the desk as the Avengers immediately sat down on the chairs provided.

M sat and her desk and smiled, while she appreciated all her agents these three had a specific place in her heart. Not that she would ever admit it, entirely inappropriate as it was. They all respected her greatly even though she had, on many occasions, told them that in meetings behind closed doors – such as the current meeting they were having – they could be less formal than usual. Stilling the sudden urge to laugh at the agent she straightened her shoulders and waved the agents to the seats waiting behind them.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

 **AN - Okay so this is me officially grovelling to everyone about the fact that I am a day late updating and I feel awful about it, but I'm involved in a dance production that begins on the 4th and things are a bit crazy around here! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and all those lovely things since the last chapter. I hope you enjoy it, we do actually get around to the undercover work eventually, but for now enjoy the chapter. Again I don't own any of the below material they all belong to JK Rowling or Marvel :) Enjoy!**

M drew her shoulders back before starting "Well then shall we begin." she said as she slowly removed her glasses from the bridge of her nose and placed them on the desk, "Now Mr Barton here has a very specific skill set, though Hawkeye is already aware of this no doubt, that you must become acquainted with to properly aid him when he goes undercover." She looked at the team before continuing.

"Now Mr Barton's skill set is… other worldly some may say." The team did not react in anyway, waiting for her to continue, "Though I believe that it may be easier for Harry to give us a demonstration perhaps." With a small nod of encouragement to the agent, Harry stood and turned to M.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" Turning to the side of the room he collected a crystal whiskey tumbler and turned back to the team. He approached the small coffee table and placed the glass on the table. Standing on the opposite side of the table looking at the team, he raised his hand slightly and flicked his hand at the glass. The team watched entranced at the sight. Before them the clear crystal slowly turned opaque, shifting the straight sides of the tumbler into curved cup shape and at the side an ornate handle began to form.

Drawing back in shock at the change that happened before there very eyes, Tony stood suddenly and approached the tea cup. He began to examine it in every way possible, he held the cup in his hand before the cup, holding the piping hot contents, suddenly hovered slightly above Tony's outstretched hands.

Turing back to Harry they saw the man looking intently at the cup of tea, his hand out as he guided the cup away from Tony and into the waiting hands of M, a small smile on her face as she accepted the tea grateful, taking an appreciative sip of the beverage she nodded to the agent and Harry took his seat.

"As you can see Mr Barton is a wielder of magic," holding her hand up to stop the onslaught of protests she continued, "I am aware of the incident with Loki of Asgard and while the magic they both bare has some similarities I ask you to keep in mind that while they may share the same magic, they are different people and Harry is firmly on our side." The team nodded reluctantly at the justification when M made eye contact with each of them, before coming across the Captain.

Seeing the look in the Captains eye she sighed regretfully. Setting the tea cup down she looked at the team, standing she spoke "May I have a moment with the good Captain?"

Silently the team stood and left the room, as Harry, Rowan and Sophia made their way to the exit she said "Mr Barton I believe that you should also be in the room, do you not agree?" Sensing the rhetorical nature of the question, though he would gladly not be here for this particular discussion, he nodded his consent before turning to the two agents.

"Take the team down to the canteen for something to eat and then go over the briefing packet for the undercover op, so they know what they're up against. When were done here I'll go over the packet with the Captain myself." Handing over the file that he had been given by M at their last meeting, that contained the bio information on his undercover alias. He nodded to the two agents and made his way back into the office, shutting the door behind him.

Seating himself on the chair furthest away from the Captain, Harry summoned a tumbler and a decanter of bourbon. Levitating the decanter as necessary, the Captain watched despondently as Harry poured himself a generous glass. Banishing the decanter with a shameless display of wand less and non-verbal magic, the agent took a healthy swig from the tumbler and let out a deep breath as he placed the tumbler on the small table.

"Okay, so how do we do this?" Harry said looking to M for guidance.

"Well I believe that we should let the Captain speak first about any issues he may have and then we can directly address them from there, okay?" She said indicating to Steve that he should begin.

"Well my main issue ma'am is something that you cannot change as the good book says that 'thou shalt not suffer a witch to live'. I was brought up that there is no such thing as good magic," Steve turned to look at Harry, "You seem like a nice guy and Clint obviously thinks the world of you but you'll never convince me that what you can do is right."

M walked over to the desk and returned to her seat, "Well then may I ask you to think about trying to look beyond your personal beliefs for the greater good. Not to change your mind because you are entitled to your beliefs but to find a way of working alongside Harry for the benefit of the mission and of the team. Or must we appoint a new team leader for this op?" she calmly placed her hands on the desk as they fell into a deep silence.

Raising his head to maintain eye contact with M, he sighed. Steve knew what the right thing to do was but whether he could bring himself to work with this man was another question entirely. Thinking back on what he knew about him, he recalled the upbringing the young man had had and the shining record he had. All the stories that Clint had told them of the boy and his family as he had grew with a family at his side.

Letting out a breath as he watched the man sipping quietly on his bourbon as he awaited his answer, he was surprised to find the distinct lack of hostility on his face. Turing back to M he stood, "No I don't believe that is necessary, we can work together just fine I think. Any other issues I once had are also no longer of importance, I know understand that he would not be here if his skill set was not required and while I don't necessarily agree, as a team leader I can understand the… value of unusual skill sets."

M smiled glad that the Captain would still be able to work with them, she smiled and said "That I am glad to hear Captain, now if you gentlemen would I have a meeting I must attend an for that you two must vacate those chairs." She gave a small smile at the two men as they made their way to the door and closed it behind them.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

 **AN - I am so sorry that this chapter took me so long, I was having real issues with were this chapter was going. Only a few more chapters until we get down to the undercover work! I want to thank all the lovely people who have reviewed and followed and all that nice stuff, so thank you so much. Here's the next chapter everyone and as usual none of this belongs to me it is all JK Rowlings and Marvels :( Enjoy everyone! :)**

As they made their way toward the canteen they talked quietly about the alias that Harry would be going under as, allowing Steve to become better acquainted with the alias, "I am uncertain about one thing though, what exactly is my role in this?"

Harry nodded understanding the uncertainty of the role a celebrity hero would take in the undercover op like this, "As I am undercover, there must be a leader who I can trust to make strategic choices, and who knows the team better than the leader. You know all of your team's strengths and weaknesses, meaning you can choose the best person to assist me should I need aid while undercover."

Steve turned to the younger man, uncertain as to why he would trust him so much, Harry realising the Captains caution continued, "I know that you have just voiced many concerns and difficulties about working with me, but you are not the first. The meeting we just had is a very standard thing when working with other agencies." Steve was so focused on Harry as he spoke he didn't see the runner nearly crashing into him, had Harry not grabbed him by the upper arm and dragged him out of the way of being run over. Chuckling Harry continued walking muttering, "Idiot runners, never looking where they're going!"

As they entered the canteen they made their way over to the hot plate and picked up a tray and quickly consumed the meal before collaring a nearby runner, Harry asked "Do you know where the Avengers are?" After being told they were in the briefing room they began to make their way, quietly discussing the finer points of each of the members of the Avengers. Coming up to the familiar oak doors the two men entered, exchanging pleasantries with the people already gathered they took their seats.

"Okay, so how far have we got?" Harry said looking directly at Sophia, nodding to her for an answer.

"We have finished familiarizing ourselves with the alias but have yet to look at the actual plan for when you go under Harry." She quickly rattled of the report with ease, Harry nodded to her then turned back to the rest of the team. Drawing out a file he opened it to the first page, skimming through the page he finished the briefing.

"Okay so Baclovitch has paid for a three week stay at the Jumeirah Pera Palace Hotel in the Presidential Suite, the plan is for me to arrive in two days' time for an indefinite stay due to a large business deal with the Turkish Military. It's all legit of course but it allows me the resources to strike up a deal of the illegal nature with the man. Therefore catching him in the act of illegal weapons trade." Harry said finally looking up to the rest of the team, "So any questions?"

It was Bruce who spoke up first "Yeah uhh… what do you need us for?"

Harry smiled, "I need you because I need detailed information on a scientific basis. I need you to process all the intel I get while I'm under and feed it back to me in a language I can understand." He nodded to the man in question, who in turn nodded their acceptance of the role while Harry was undercover. Harry then continued to Natasha, "I need the Black Widow here to theorize with her because she knows the world that I'm going to be working in, Tony I need you because I may want to add little flare while I'm under and having a large company like Stark Industries on my resume will only bolster my reputation within the parties" Harry smiled slightly at Tony, finding a small piece of humor at Tony's irritation.

"What? So I'm only here to make you look good."

Harry gave a small chuckle, "Yeah but if it makes you feel any better, your unlikely to get injured. Meaning your wife will be very pleased with you when you get home." Tony and Clint shared a knowing smiled at one another before turning back to Harry with an abnormally blank face.

"Anyway, moving swiftly on…" Harry said trying to divert the conversation.

Clint laughed, "What? Not the direction of the conversation you were hoping… son." Clint smiled at Harry, only causing the younger man to glower at his father before continuing.

"Steve is here because he knows everything you guys can do and I need him to keep everyone in line and working while I am gone, but we have already discussed his role prior to this discussion." Harry nodded to Steve before turning to Clint "and you are here because as much as I hate to admit it, I may need him to assist me when I'm undercover. Because he is rather good at passing unnoticed." Harry shrugged his shoulders in defeat as Clint smirked at him.

Sighing Harry stood and made his way to the door, "Okay so let's head out and deflate a bit. Loosen up, have a relaxing evening before all the hard work begins tomorrow." The team nodded and dispersed talking quietly to one another. Harry approached Clint as he was leaving, "Hey Dad you want to go down to the gym for a bit?"

Clint smiled at, "Yeah that sounds great. Are you sure that you can keep up with me young blood?" Clint smiled, glad that the easy banter they had before Harry left, had returned.

Harry gave a snort at the joke Clint had made "Dad you sure you can keep up with me? I mean I'm not 16 anymore and you're defiantly getting old." Harry gave the other man a playful shove as they made their way down the hall toward the gym.

Behind them stood the rest of the team, "This is so strange." Rowan said, looking at the pair in confusion.

Natasha however was unsure as to why it was strange, "I do not see how it is strange, Clint is like this with his younger children. Why should he be any different with Harry, surely this would be even more obvious seeing as they would have known each other for longer."

The team looked at her in surprise, Bruce nodded and made his way to the apartment, with Natasha walking just behind him. Bruce turned to look at her, "Did you know Harry very well?" Natasha looked at Bruce surprised, "You seem to have known Lewis quite well and they probably grew up around one another, that's all."

Natasha smiled realizing what he was getting at, "I knew off him. I didn't know him just after I first met Clint as we weren't that close. When I go close to Clint, Harry had just joined a prep school that took boarders and harry chose to board, apparently he was more independent than the average 8-11 year old. He went into to higher education at age 11, a school for the gifted, a boarding school. Harry was only ever home for holidays and I never stayed close to the family during holidays. So I knew of him and heard stories about him but I never got the chance to meet him."

Bruce raised an eye brow, "Gifted?" He smiled a bit at the euphemism. Natasha laughed at the joke, turning the corner to the apartment she opened the door and walked in, closing the door behind them.

"I know, I know." She waved him of, still laughing. She was glad that they could laugh together again like they used to.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

 **AN - So yes I am actually alive and am very sorry about the delays in posting. I will try to make sure I post at least once a week for everyone. Thank you to everyone who gave their feedback last chapter, it is really appreciated :) Sadly I don't own any of the material, it all belongs to JK Rowling and Mavel :( I hope you enjoy this chapter :)**

When Harry and Clint finally entered the gym it was silent. Unusual considering that most of the agents were currently at the base, and would therefore not be in an op. Meaning that they should be in the gym, however they were not. He was definately going to take advantage of that.

Smiling he and Clint headed off to the changing rooms, stripping down to just the trousers they were wearing the two men wrapped their hands in tape, quietly talking as they did so. When they had finished Clint made his way over to the mats while Harry made a quick detour to get a few bottles of water from the fridge.

Having collected the bottles from the fridge Harry placed them by the side of the mats before joining Clint on the floor as he began to stretch. The worked silently, going through the familiar motions of flexing and stretching each individual muscle, standing Harry continued stretching and warming up. Finally finished he turned to look at Clint who was waiting for him, raising an eye brow at the look Clint was giving, before shaking his head and motioning to the centre of the mat to begin.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I don't want to hurt you." Harry cautioned Clint, a slight mocking tone in his voice. Rolling his shoulders Harry prepared to begin, feet apart and his wrapped fists raised.

Clint laughed at the bait, Harry knew that he was a good fighter but it had been 10 years since they last sparred, Clint really had no clue how much he had improved, "Well don't take it easy on me just because I'm your old man." He smiled again before mirroring his son's position, they fell into silence, as each man assessed the other.

Slowly circling one another they looked for weaknesses, assessing each and every movement the other man made. Watching Clint closely Harry sent out a quick jab with his left hands, testing the waters. Drawing back Clint raised his hands slightly to protect his face before sending out a swift leg kick to force Harry to move. Harry took a step back, avoiding the kick Harry scowled at the man before smirking as he advanced, throwing another left handed jab that was immediately followed by a right hook. Clint saw the left jab coming and adequately blocked it but caught the right hook that smacked his head to the right. Shaking his head he cleared the fog that had clouded his vision for a moment before re-engaging Harry with a well-executed body tackle.

They continued like this for 10 minutes swapping punches and kicks in no urgency to end the fight, enjoying the relief of beating out issues between one another. However it was Harry that first landed a serious hit, with a round house kick straight to the diaphragm, pushing Clint back with a gasp as the wind left his lungs completely. Before Clint could comprehend what was happening Harry had rushed the man, sweeping him of his feet and again knocking what wind he had gathered right back out of him as he threw him back to the floor.

Bringing his hands up to cover his face from the attack that he knew was coming he was surprised when the attack never came. Lowering his hands he looked at Harry but the man only smiled, "Don't want to not give you any chance at defending yourself." He motioned to Clint for him to stand again and Clint gave a sigh as he stood.

"You young people - can't just beat the old man you have to obliterate him!" The tone in Clint's voice only made Harry laugh; mild irritation covered a slight hint of humor.

"Come on old man; don't give up on me now." Raising his hands again the two men continued the swapping of punches until Clint feigned left before executing a perfect hitch kick that flipped Harry onto his back, where he stayed. Clint advanced on the younger man and was about to help him up when Harry grabbed Clint's wrist and flipped him on top of himself and put the SHIELD agent in a choke hold muttering, "Tap out and I'll let go." But Clint didn't move only continuing to struggle.

After Harry had repeated himself and Clint was just beginning to lose consciousness when the older man gave a weak but noticeable wrap on Harry's forearm. Immediately the man released his hold and helped the older man up and toward a bench on the far side of the gym.

They sat and sipped the water for a few minutes, slowing down their heart rates and getting their breath back. It was Harry who spoke up first, "So tell me more about my youngest brother, I got a lot to catch up on."

"He's beyond inconsolable that he can't train to be an astronaut at preschool." He said giving Harry a knowing smile as he remembered a certain young boy who had proudly declared that when he was older he was going to be a dragon tamer.

Harry shook his head at the hint that Clint had dropped, "When are you going to let that go I was 8 years old for Christ sake!" The two men continued to reminisce and tell funny stories that had happened since they had seen one another.

"… and then we played 'Why Can't we be Friend's' over the intercom system and left it on a loop all 'cos this guy said that my buddy was too short to be a real soldier!" Clint left out a raucous laugh at the story, almost dropping the water bottle which had long since been empty. Harry and Clint then stood and walked over to the changing rooms and proceeded to get changed back into their clothes and carefully removed the bloodied tape from their hands.

Having finished changing Clint took out his phone and scrolled through a list, Harry sat next to him confused as to what the older man was doing. The older man hesitated slightly before selecting an option. Waiting, Harry watched as he held the phone to his ear, confused as to what he was doing. It only became apparent when Clint spoke,

" _Hello."_ Clint smiled at the voice before replying.

"Hey Ren, how are you?"

" _I'm good, missing you but good and the kids are fine by the way. So now you can tell me why you called."_ Clint smiled at the 'to the point' way she always had.

"Very well then, I have someone who you should talk to…" Holding out the phone to Harry he suddenly realized what the purpose of the phone call was.

Hesitating slightly Harry took the phone before replying "Hey mum, it's Harry…"


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

 **AN - So here is the next installment of the story and I am amazed to say that this is actually on time! I hope you enjoy this, I couldn't not put in this new plot line, honestly I tried the story without it but I just couldn't get it right. Thank you everyone who has reviewed this story so far and has given me their feedback I really do appreciate it. I sadly don't own any of the material as it all belongs to JK Rowling and Marvel :( Enjoy everyone :)**

It wasn't until the next day, after the alarm clock had ejected him from bed at the ungodly hour of 0500, that Harry realized just how much talking to Lauren had helped him. For once he slept more than 4 hours that night and he felt amazingly relaxed. He turned to check his phone, ' _1 New Text Message'_

Entering the required code he selected the necessary options to open the message, smiling he realized it was from Sophia, ' _Meet me in the Gym on your way to the briefing'_ Harry smiled slightly before sending a quick text back stating he would be there, he then had a quick shower before leaving the accommodations to make his way toward the gym.

Entering the gym his eyes immediately fell on the curved figure of Sophia standing in the corner. Approaching her she turned to look at him, she smiled "Hey, glad you could make it."

Harry smiled and shrugged of his black leather jacket and placed it over the back of bench, "Yeah, got to say I'm gonna miss you while I'm undercover." Seeing that she had quickly slipped a small item in her pocket he quirked his eye brow slightly before taking a step toward her, "and what might that be Soph?" He said pushing his hands in his pockets just to irritate her, he learned a long time ago that it was one of her pet peeves.

Scowling slightly she sashayed toward him with a small smile, "It's our first dinner you took me on at the small pub down the road."

Smiling at the memory that suddenly came to mind, it was indeed a very good memory. A night filled with jokes, laughter and karaoke. A situation he had refused to acknowledge or repeat. A fantastic night if he was honest. When they agreed to sleep with each other they had immediately made it very clear that it was 'casual'. Now though Harry was not so sure as to whether he would still classify it as such. As much as he had denied it for the past year, he had been developing feelings for her. She was one of the only people who would put up with his bullshit, an impressive accomplishment if Harry had anything to say about it.

Not that he would ever to admit it to her.

"A fantastic night I will gladly admit." Harry agreed smiling to her.

"Yes it was," she nodded toward the bench and they both sat, leaning in slightly she continued "and desert was… spectacular."

Harry let out a deep chuckle, "I'm glad that you are appreciative of my abilities." He let out another laugh. He was not as confident on the outside as he was on the inside. Sophia was not normally like this during work hours even if they were alone, which begged the question as to why the sudden change, "So as much as I love to reminisce with you, I don't believe you called me down here just to smile at old memories did you Soph?"

Shrugging her shoulders slightly she nodded and turned to him, she began to speak but hesitated, Harry was unnerved by this. She was normally a very confident woman who spoke her mind when she wanted to. Smiling slightly Harry encouraged her to continue, "Harry there is something I have to tell you, it isn't easy to say this and I don't want to destroy what we have but neither can I let you go on a mission this dangerous without being honest with you."

Harry cupped the side of her face, the sudden change in her demeanor was unsettling to say the least, relaxing and leaning back he let out a breath before speaking, "Sophia leaving aside the high possibility that I won't be coming back at all, are you sure you don't want to leave with until my return."

Sophia shook her head, "I can't risk it Harry, if anything should happen to you…" she dropped her eyes for a moment, gathering her thoughts, "Harry you must know that I have feelings for you. Far more so than I've led you to believe. I know that you may not feel the same way and would prefer us to stay friends, but I can't let you go without telling you."

Harry takes her face into his hands and looking straight at her, he let out a shuddering breath before saying "Sophia I…"

They were interrupted by the harsh ringing of Harry's phone, cursing he brought the phone from his pocket and took the call, "What?" He said in a harsh tone, so pissed he could not put it into words.

" _M wants you up in her office now."_ The voice from the other end stated, ignoring the unnecessarily harsh answer.

"Fine, I'll be there soon." Snapping the phone shut before they could respond, raising an eye brow at Harry, Sophia looked disappointed.

"Guess we have to continue this conversation later anyway," she sighed, at least Harry knew the truth now, "Who was that?"

Harry reached over to grab his jacket and shrugged it on as they made their way toward the door, "Rowan."

Entering the office Harry took in the fact that the Q was the only one there, nodding toward the other man Harry said, "Hello there Q, how are you my bespectacled genius friend?" Harry said thrusting his hand out to the other man.

Taking it Q smiled at the common greeting between the two, "Very well my brutishly suicidal friend. We are just waiting on the Avengers to join us then we can commence."

Harry looked at M, "Morning M, how are you?"

"Very well Harry." She smiled at the younger man and gestured to the other chair in front of the desk. Only a few moments later the rest of the team arrived at the office, after exchanging pleasantries they all sat and waited for Q to continue.

"Alright then, we have made your ID's. Passport, driver's license, credit cards, gym membership card and oyster card. All under the name of Mr James Conway, resident scumbag." Harry picked up the leather wallet, gently running his eyes over the three credit cards and the large wodge of money inside his cheeky smile dropped. In turn it was replaced by a blank face with cold and empty eyes, gone was the jovial young man that everybody was familiar with.

The sudden change in Harry was alarming to Clint, in only a matter of moments Harry had completely changed his persona. Gone was the boy turned man that he knew who loved pranks and laughter generally, in front of him now was a cold and calculated killer and while he was not naïve enough to think that Harry had yet to kill neither was the father in him comfortable with the obvious change in Harry.

Harry double checked the wallet and took his phone before nodding slightly to M and exiting the room in silence, leaving all those behind in stunned silence.

Sophia hung her head slightly, accepting that the conversation she wanted to continue was not going to happen until after Harry had returned, turning to the Avengers she said, "Don't worry, Harry always does this before an undercover op. Says it helps him get into the right mind frame," making her way to the door she turned back to the team for a moment, "I doubt he will say much more before he leaves." And with that she left, heading back toward her accommodation.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

 **AN - Okay so I accidentally posted chapter 17 before this so if you get confused just go back and read again because I am a certified IDIOT! I am sorry about this guys :( Anyway I don't own any of this material it all belongs to JK Rowling and Marvel. I hope you enjoy the chapter :)**

Harry walked silently through the corridors, he didn't want to admit it but he needed to talk to Sophia before he left. He couldn't leave thing like this. Talking a left he entered his room, taking in the clinically clean look of it and the sparse coverings around the room of only what was necessary Harry had to admit that he missed his room back at home. The cozy attic room his dad had set up for him as a space away from the family. His own little sanctuary at the top of the stairs.

Don't get him wrong he loved his family, but with the sudden addition of hovering parents and siblings into his life took time to adjust to. Thinking back he considered what his father had told him about Nathanial. He would be 10 years old now and Harry was saddened that he had missed so much of his brother's life but consoled himself that he had a few months leave coming up and instead of hiding out in his London flat he was going to America. He would rebuild those bridges he had destroyed as a teenager and maybe he could fix the damage he had caused. Besides he wanted to see if Lewis had succeeded in getting into Naval Intelligence.

Turing to the small cupboard he saw the expensive looking suitcase standing there. Knowing how to take a hint he grabbed it and made his way to the parking garage. Seeing a driver waiting he waved him over, "Can you put my stuff in the car and take me to Heathrow Airport please?"

"Certainly Sir, anything else I can help you with?" The driver said with a polite smile on his face.

"No thank you," turning back to the building he continued, "I'll be back out in a minute, I just need to talk to someone." Harry then turned and walked away before the driver could even make a sound.

Back in the accommodation room the Avengers had gathered around the dinner table with leftovers scattered on top of it, they sat laughing at stories and jokes until Steve spoke up, "So we know MI6 Harry but what about when Harry was a boy?"

Clint smiled before he spoke, "It took awhile for him to actually be a child if I'm being honest. He was on the streets from what I can guess about a month. By then he was already matured much beyond his age but after I got him back home and gave him a bed, 3 meals a day and about a year's worth of repeating that he wasn't a freak then he was a normal child."

The Avengers all looked up at that, "They called him what." Bruce said his eyes flashing green slightly in anger.

"You heard me," He turned to Steve slightly, "That's why I was so cautious around you Steve, because the people he grew up with shared the opinion that magic was devil worshipping and such. Not that I'm saying you would ever do something like that," Clint added hastily, "But these monsters they damaged him. I was worried what being around someone of the same background would do to his mentality."

"Did they beat him?" Came the quiet question from Tony, "'Cause I can understand that… I mean… I just…"

Steve turned to look at, his face pale with shock, "Howard? Are you… but he wouldn't… would he?"

Tony shrugged slightly, "After you disappeared so did the dreaming side of him, he started drinking more. Getting angry. He lashed out. It wasn't very often, I learnt to avoid it after a while, avoid him."

Natasha looked at him, "That was very open for you Stark."

"Yeah well, Pepper's going on about how I need to be more open if I want to overcome my monumental list of issues." Tony said with a dry smile before turning the conversation back to Clint, "So then Legolas, tell us some Harry related stories."

"Really?" Clint said, if he was honest he was surprised as to how well they had accepted him, "Okay then. Umm… there was this one time at the magic prep school he went to, I think he was 9."

He was going to continue when Bruce butted in, "Wait prep school. Magic users have whole school systems?"

"Yeah, there are the main ones. Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France which is a girls school. Durmstrang Institute in Scandinavia that's a boys school, we considered sending Harry there but he wanted to stay closer to home. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in England which we looked at but if you ask us it was a little lacking in actual education department." Clint smiled as he continued "Then there is the less well known ones, like Salem Witches Academy and one in Brazil, Russia, Japan, Egypt… I mean the list just goes on and on."

"So which did Harry go to?"

"He went to Winchester School of Mystery and Magic in San Jose, California." He said with a smile, "Not as popular as Salem but it had a prep school that could catch him up on everything magical and muggle that he had missed."

"Anyway Harry was in Potions class and he'd completed the assignment already so he asked the professor if he could… well go to the library to do some research." Natasha groaned when she heard that knowing if he was anything like Clint this could only end badly, smiling knowingly Clint continued, "Naturally Harry was allowed to go and did the necessary research to complete his own assignment."

"Next morning everyone, from the head teacher to the cleaner, was meowing instead of talking. Only problem was as funny as it no doubt was Harry had forgotten to take into account that he would be the only one who wasn't affected." Everyone around the table was in fits of laughter at the prank.

"Let me guess he got busted." Tony said having recovered enough to speak once more.

"Totally and utterly busted. He had to clean bed pans in the infirmary for a week without using magic." Every one winced at the unusual punishment with sympathy.

"Ouch." Bruce said.

"Yeah, poor kid stank for days afterward." Clint said seriously before they all broke out laughing again at the younger mans misfortune.

Meanwhile Harry had finally found who he was looking for in the dance studio that was used for practice of martial arts and the like. For a few moments he stood there watching as Sophia continued her deadly dance around the room, fighting imaginary opponent after opponent before she caught sight of him standing in the door way.

Coming to a halt she looked at him surprise written across her face, "I thought you would have left by now." She began to make her way over to the bench on the side and undo the wrappings around her hands and feet.

Harry sat down gently beside her, "I thought if I was going to break the habit of a career it may as well be now." He said flippantly but with a small smile of amusement that Sophia missed.

"Yeah well get on with it then." She snapped at him.

Reeling back slightly in surprise Harry placed a hand over hers forcing her to make eye contact with him, "If I remember correctly we were in the middle of a conversation when we were called up." He said smiling, "One that I would very much like to finish."

Sophia looked at him confused, to her it sounded almost like he was… but he couldn't… this was Harry.

They sat there in silence for a moment, both not sure how to continue. Harry let out a shaky breath before speaking, "I don't even get why I'm this nervous because I know you have feelings for me and that means that everything is gonna change and I just need to tell you this before I leave. I need you to understand."

She stood quickly hoping to save herself the pain of his rejection, berating herself for her stupidity while he continued to speak in the background, only to be brought out of her musings by Harry standing in front of her, "… because if I'm being honest with myself Soph… I … well… I love you too."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

 **AN - Okay so I am defiantly begging for your forgiveness here. I am a horrible author for not updating in so many days I can't actually count them and I will be amazed if anyone is actually still reading this but in my defense I had to care for two young cousins for a week and by the time I got back to the story I had lost the thread. I promise I will update sooner next time and we are getting into the actual mission now. Thanks again for the reviews I do greatly appreciate them. Sadly I don't own any of this material it all belongs to JK Rowling and Marvel. Enjoy the chapter :)**

Stepping out of the plane, Harry swiftly placed his overly priced sunglasses on in a vain attempt to reduce the alarming amount of glare coming from the air strip. Looking around he made a quick evaluation of his surroundings. Ahead he could see the large building that made up Istanbul Ataturk Airport, its glass paneled walls making an imposing figure on the horizon. Harry turned back to the two bodyguards hired by his alias this morning as muscle. Nodding his head at one of them, Remus, if he had caught his code name correctly, who was taller than the other but no less deadly, swiftly took his place to the right of Harry while his companion, Romulus, grabbed a young baggage handler to sort out Harry's luggage before placing himself on Harry's left.

Forcing himself to focus, Harry stepped onto the tarmac and began the short walk to the arrivals lounge. Going through customs took longer than Harry would have liked but mainly involved a lot of waiting in line. Irritating but not actually damaging in anyway.

As Harry walked into the arrivals area he saw a young man in a suit, surely no older than 20, with 'Mr James Conway' written on a white board. Raising his hand slightly Harry beckoned the young man over and without a word gestured for the young driver to relieve the baggage handler of his luggage.

"Oh yes Sir, right away. Car's just in front of you Sir" the young driver said quickly. Taking charge of the bags he placed them in the boot and rushed around to open the door for Harry.

Harry waited for the young man and nodded his head slightly when he quickly opened the door and was given a pleasant smile in return. Settling in the car he said "Jumeirah Pera Palace Hotel" before glancing quickly at his watch, seeing _11:38_ he add, "if you get me there before lunch I'll give you an extra 40 lira." Harry quickly calculated in his head that it was roughly £10 so that should be incentive enough.

Smiling the driver eagerly nodded his head and pulled out of the bar into the stream of traffic heading toward town centre.

Watching the crowds and buildings going past Harry took the opportunity to talk to his two bodyguards, "Right - down to business, you will address me as Mr Conway at all times, your room is attached to mine but at no time are you allowed entrance into my room unless I am dying is that understood?" His tone was cold and uncaring, a vast contrast to his normal manner. He shook himself slightly, trying to forget all traces of his usual self, instead embrace his role of suspicious bastard.

Both men gave a "Yes Sir" in response before Harry continued.

"During meetings you will wait outside and if I have a lunch meeting you will eat at the same time I do on a separate table. Obviously in a position that accommodates you, okay"

The men nodded their heads before returning to a comfortable silence. Harry sat back slightly and allowed his thoughts to wander back to the morning at headquarters.

"… _because if I'm being honest with myself Soph… I … well… I love you too." Harry stood there shoulders slumped in relief at finally being able to voice his feelings. Slowly Sophia turned to look at Harry, disbelief written across her face._

 _She smiled slightly when their eyes met, "You do?" She said so quietly that had it not been for their close proximity to one another Harry wasn't sure he would have heard her. In fact she was so close he could see the pale dusting of freckles across her nose, smell the scent of warm skin, and a hint of the fruity shampoo she kept in her locker. They had kissed before of course, but that had been different, urgent intense, a prelude to encounters which were intensely pleasurable, but ultimately meaningless. This was different. A beginning, but if things didn't go his way on this op, the last thing she would have to remember him by. One hand cradled the back of her head drawing her towards him as he bent to find her lips with his…._

"We're here Sir." Harry's head snapped around to look at the driver, his mind having wandered to bittersweet memories he had not realized they had arrived at their destination. Looking toward the now open door Harry exited the car. He turned to look at the young driver, an expectant look on his face as he stood before him.

Confused Harry tilted his head slightly, "Sorry Sir, it's just… well it's, it's 11:49 Sir and well…" The young man drifted off at the end and realization dawned upon Harry. Letting out a small sound of understanding Harry collected the required money and handed it over to the eager young man.

"As promised." Harry gave the young man a small nod to the driver before swiftly turning away and entering the hotel lobby.

As he approached the door was held open for him and he swiftly entered the golden and white tiled lobby, he quickly looked around for the reception desk before seeing it neatly placed in the back left hand corner. Running a quick hand through his hair he made his was over to the desk.

As he approached a young woman turned to him and gave him an alarmingly big smile, "Hello Sir welcome to the Jumeirah Pera Palace Hotel, how can I help you today." She was clearly not from around here, her pale skin and lack of an accent was an obvious give away.

"I'm James Conway, I have a booking for a presidential suite." He said giving the young woman a charming smile as he lent slightly on the desk. The woman gave a small nod and a shy smile before searching for the information.

"Ah yes, here we are Mr Conway. I presume you only want one room key?" She said glancing up at him, Harry nodded.

"Only person going up there is me…" Harry pocketed the card before turning back to the receptionist and giving her a charming smile, "unless I happen to invite a gorgeous woman up and then that's an entirely different story is it not. Thank you, by the way."

Turning away he made his way over to the elevators and went up to the 12th floor. As he arrived on the floor he was met by an older man. Baclovitch. Harry could recognize him anywhere. Giving him a curt nod Harry made his way out of the elevator taking one more glance at the arms dealer before making his way over to his room.

Entering the room he gestured to the brothers to take the smaller room to the left and made his way into his larger suite. The room was nearly as big as his whole apartment back at headquarters, the bed was large and drowning in pillows. Smirking at a rather pleasant memory that suddenly came to mind involving copious amounts of said pillows and a night spent doing anything but sleeping with Soph.

Shaking his head he noticed his baggage in the corner and set about unpacking and putting relevant information to his legal arms deals in the safe and placing the obligatory gun under his pillow, having removed at least 6 cushions, and a hunting knife in the dresser next to the bed.

Then taking out his burner phone he entered the necessary code to unlock the phone he sent a quick text to his 'brother' saying he had arrived and should be underway with the deal in a few days at least. The contact wasn't actually his brother but fellow agent Rowan Marshall. Noting the time Harry quickly washed his face and changed shirts to lessen the smell of airplane before exiting the room, Remus and Romulus close behind him, and made his way down to the restaurant to meet his contact for the sales to the Turkish Military.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

 **AN - Hello everyone, back to normal again which is very good. So here we go with the mission and hopefully I can start to get the story moving a bit now that all of the setting up of the mission is done. Thanks to all of the feedback I have received it's been great to here that you are enjoying it. Sadly I don't own any of the material it all belongs to JK Rowling and marvel. Okay so enjoy the chapter :)**

Back in London it was only 10:30 and Rowan strolled into the main monitoring room to find most of the Avenger's already seated in various places around the room. Next to the main computer sat the Black Widow, Natasha if he remembered correctly, and next to her Doctor Banner. The two sat close together going over what looked to be blue prints of weapons.

The Captain and Stark where over in the corner looking at building layouts of the hotel in case they needed to do an emergency breach in response to a distress signal from Harry. Barton was sat alone at a small table with a file open in front of him and a large pot of coffee that had been emptied in an attempt to stay awake. He had a suspicion that the Hawk had yet to sleep today. As he drew closer he as it was Harry undercover file.

Speaking of Harry, "Everyone! I have received the conformation text from Harry, he's in place." Everyone turned to him and two agents quickly took the phone off him and linked it up to the main computer.

"Okay, now he's contacted us we can activate the speaker on his burner phone that he should have kept with him." The tech said before frantic tapping followed shortly after, static was all that came out of the speaker and as the agent furiously tapped away at the key board in an aim to adjust it, "It's nearly there… I just need a few more seconds… ah got it." The techs shared a small fist bump as normal, causing Rowan to smile slightly.

" _Rivka Demir, Mr Conway. I'm very glad you could meet with me so promptly. I am very aware that you have just arrived so I will keep the business talk to a minimum."_

Her thick accent made understanding the sentence with slight static over the top very difficult, subsequently everyone leaned in a little bit to help them hear. The team where listening intently on the conversation when a tech spoke up reading from a document pulled up from a data base, "Mrs Rivka Demir, age 32. She works for the Turkish Military as a liaison to outsourced weaponry and has had the position for… 5 years now."

The team nodded at the new information and turned back to the conversation.

* * *

Harry looked at the woman before taking her hand and giving it a shake, "It's nice to meet you Mrs Demir. I hope I can be of service to you and your country." She smiled at him before looking at the waiter in the corner and beckoning him over.

"Welcome Sir, Ma-am. Are you ready to order?" receiving nods form both he looked to Demir first then Harry, "very good, I'll sort that out for you."

It was then that Harry continued with the conversation, "So everything is as we planned out earlier?"

"Yes the General is set to meet you tomorrow at Deniz Harp Okulu Naval Academy at 2:30 in the afternoon. We will go through the details of the deal and sign all the necessary paperwork and perhaps set up some future deals too."

Harry nodded, "Yes I hope that is an option, though it does depend on how well the deal is finalized tomorrow." Harry leaned back slightly to allow the young waiter to place his meal down before him, "So I here you were on the fast track for this job a few years ago, tell me how was that…"

* * *

The team back in London were quiet when the conversation when turned to small talk and it was Clint who first broke the silence, "We should reply to the text set up a contact time."

Rowan sighed before nodding and sending a message 'that's great! good luck with the deal. call me tonight when you're done yeah' turning to Sophia he watched her for a moment. She was laughing again at a joke Mr Stark had made, he envied her that she could laugh at times like this. Then again she probably was ignoring the danger for her own sanity.

Placing the phone down and instructing the tech to send for him through a runner he was walking out the room when he was met with a familiar face, "Marshal, any reason why I had to hear that we made initial contact with Potter from a lowlife runner?"

The team all tuned to look at the other man, Clint was clearly surprised by his identity. It was then gentleman, and he used that word lightly, that had told Harry he was going undercover and had clearly been very hostile toward the idea of the Avengers being involved at all. "I was on my way to brief you now Sir," He was about to continue when he met the confused faces of the team, "Oh you have yet to be introduced, with is James Maddox. He is the Chief of Staff here and…"

"I do believe that that is enough, these Americans don't need to know my life story Marshal," Rowan mumbled an apology of sorts before updating his superior of what had happened so far and notified him of the phone call that was set up that evening. Maddox nodded and fired of a quick text silently before walking out the room.

Bruce shook his head at the man, he didn't have to be a doctor to realize that Maddox had it out for the team and Harry, the Other Guy was seriously uneasy whenever he was around him.

"You feel it to, don't you."

Bruce didn't even have to turn to know who it was, the warm comforting feeling he got whenever Natasha was around was easy to identify, "The Other Guy is shifty around him."

Natasha raised her eye brows at him, "Well in that case I'm definitely going to keep an eye on him."

"Make sure to spread the word." Natasha nodded at him before taking his hand and leading him out of the room, as they wandered the corridors they spoke of everything and anything. Stopping finally at a small pool area that was normally closed that day Natasha promptly stripped off into her underwear.

"You joining me Bruce or are you going to sit there on the sidelines like a chicken," she cast a sultry glance over her shoulder, "correction, a chicken with his beak on the floor." She gave a laugh before the dove into the water with an easy grace.

Bruce smiled at her more playful side that he had discovered more and more before Ultron, she beckoned him over again and Bruce gave in. Shrugging out of his clothes and down to his boxers he walked over to the steps and gently slid into the pool. Swimming over to her she eagerly placed her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

Leaning in she whispered a quiet, "Consider yourself forgiven." Before kissing Bruce soundly and then swimming away again with a gleeful smile. Turning back to him Natasha sent a well aimed splash at him, to which Bruce let out an indignant splutter before returning fire.

Then all hell broke loose with splashing and joyous laughter.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Tony stood there watching quietly before softly saying "Well done my little science bro. Well done." Tony quietly slipped behind the door and made his way down to the canteen.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

 **AN - I am so sorry about the delay everyone, I have now finished posting all of the pre-written stuff and am now posting after a chapter is written. I know this causes delays but I promise that I will not abandon this story. I want to than everyone who has reviewed and Favorited/Followed, you are all lovely people. I sadly don't own any of this material it all belongs to JK Rowling and Marvel. Enjoy the chapter :)**

That night after speaking to the base and updating them Harry sat quietly on the balcony overlooking the nightlife below, he let out a deep breath and lent back taking another slow drag from the cigar in his hand. Harry thought, " _Good thing Soph isn't here, she'd kill me if she saw me smoking"_ chuckling slightly he took a sip of the bourbon he had ordered.

Sitting quietly he began to think, no doubt this mission was very dangerous and now Harry had a problem, he had something to lose for the first time in his career. He had previously been of the mind that if he died on a mission he would count only as a lost asset, not the emotional damage he would undoubtedly cause not only his family but to Soph as well.

That Harry was not happy with this.

Standing up and moving over to the railing Harry cast his eyes over to the ground below, following a group of young girls giggling down the road, clinging to one another. Shaking his head and laughing slightly he took another slow drag and watched the world below.

* * *

 _Unknown Location_

"Have you heard of the rumours?" Said a heavily built man with short black hair and a multitude of tattoos, he looked toward a high backed leather chair that was position in front of a grand fire place.

"Of this American?" Came the reply in a thick accent, "What of it Nikolay?"

"How are we to handle him?" The black haired man, Nikolay, sat at a nearby table and claimed a bottle of cheep beer.

"I do not understand why you drink that der'mo Nikolay" Seeing he was about to respond the man gave a dismissive wave before continuing, "We will test him. See what this american can do."

"How?" The man in the chair stood without answering and turned to Nikolay

"I shall approach him tomorrow. Get me his schedule for." And with that the man left leaving Nikolay at the table alone. Downing the last swig of his cheep beer he stood and briskly left the room to complete his task.

* * *

 _Jumeirah Pera Palace Hotel, Presidential Suite_

The next morning the alarm went off at 9:00. Harry rolled over still half asleep and smacked the alarm clock off. Grunting in annoyance he rolled back onto his back and glared at the ceiling, in an attempt to deny the fact he had to get up. Sophia found it hilarious that the super spy was not a morning person. The fact that Harry liked his sleep more than most things had been the topic of many a discussion between them.

Getting changed Harry got dressed and collected the files on the Military deal he currently had going, today he was meeting with the Generals to iron out any details before exchanging money and equipment. For Conway it was also an opportunity to look into future deals that could be made, therefore keeping the alias as current as possible and available for future use.

Before long Harry realized the time and made his way down to the awaiting car, "Denis Harp Okulu Academy, right Sir?"

Giving a short "Yes." Harry and the two brothers got seated and waited to arrive at their destination. Approximately 40 minutes into the car journey he got a call, answering it he said, "Conway here."

" _Can you talk, it's important."_ Raising his head slightly as he realised it was Sophia, Harry gave a false smile before responding.

"Yeah I can, you alright darling." Harry said giving the brothers a pointed look that told them to look away and ignore the call.

" _Harry you're on speaker, we just got an alert that someone ran a background check on you and he's going pretty deep."_

Chuckling Harry replied, "Hey don't worry about it. It can't be that bad can it?" Harry closed the file he was reading and focused on the call.

" _He's gone all the way back to your military service years."_

"Okay that is impressive," he glared at the brothers who had, while he was focused on the call, turned to look at his, "What about when I was 6 years old, remember that?" Harry gave a happy laugh hoping she'd get the message.

She did, _"We've set it up but it's not as deep as later years, the tech people didn't have long to finish it."_ There was a pause.

"Hey, you still trying to remember?" Harry said concerned that she had stopped so abruptly.

" _No, it's set up but it looks like they've stopped. Apparently they bought it."_

"That's a good thing," Harry smiled, happy that even though they couldn't talk properly he could still hear her voice.

"We're 5 minutes away Sir." Came a voice from the front, Harry nodded to the driver before turning back to the conversation.

"Listen I have a meeting I'm about to go into, can I call you again later say 10?" Harry quickly glanced at the two brothers and was glad that they had listened and had ignored the call.

" _Yeah, you make contact with me, okay?"_

"Yeah, miss you darling." Harry smiled at her reaction.

" _I miss you too Harry,"_ remembering that she was on speaker phone she quickly corrected herself, "… we all do."

Chuckling Harry bid one more goodbye before exiting the car and making his way to the meeting. Upon walking in he was greeted by Rivka Demir, "Mrs Demir, good to see you again. How are you?"

After the usual pleasantries had been exchanged, he was then introduced to the Generals they sat down to discuss the deal, "This is a lot of cargo Mr Conway. And we are paying a lot of money for it, more than we normally would. Can you assure us of the quality of the shipment? Will it even be here on time?"

"Your distrust of me is quiet worrying Sir. I gave my word that it will on both accounts and have signed the contract that states so but still you question me."

Rivka noticed the irritation in his voice and interceded before one of the Generals could, "We understand that Mr Conway, we are however understandably nervous. This is an abnormally large shipment for us."

Taking a breath Harry nodded, "Of course, but surely if I am the more experienced with delivering shipments of this size then you will be satisfied with my word." Harry stated, taking a sip of the instant coffee he had been given.

The room was silent, neither side willing to step down, again it was Rivka who broke the silence, "And we will attempt to remember that as long as you remember our situation Mr Conway? Generals?"

A murmur of agreement broke out from both sides, Rivka smiled slightly glad to have avoided that disaster, "Well than perhaps we should move onto the next topic. It says here Mr Conway that you are interested in becoming a permanent supplier," the officers turned in surprise to look at the young American, "Obviously there are proper channels for this but we can defiantly use this as a trial run to save time. Would this be acceptable to everyone?"

The Generals nodded in agreement, to have such a large supplier that actively pursued a contract with them was a very good thing for them. Harry also agreed and gave a small smile to Rivka.

When the meeting closed Harry smiled and said, "Thank you Mrs Demir. I know mediating between two very strong willed sides is not easy, especially when one of them employs you."

Rivka gave a small laugh and shook Harry's hand, "If you think that was a… pissing contest as you Americans call it then I can assure you that it was a minor hump."

"I think you minor bump, but that is irrelevant. You have my thanks." Harry again bid the Generals goodbye before indicating to the brothers that he was leaving and made his way over to the car. Sitting down again he let a small sigh of relief before he felt the car pulling out onto the road and began it's journey back to the hotel.

* * *

 _ **AN2 – Der'mo – means 'shit' in Russian.**_


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Taking a quick shower Harry ordered some room service for dinner, not really wanting to go all the way down to the restaurant to eat after all the drama at the meeting earlier. Sitting down at his laptop he began to go over the information he had gathered on Baclovitch and additional info sent by Natasha during the day. About 15 minutes into the reading a knock came at the door, ignoring it in favor of letting the brothers handle it he continued reading.

Pausing a moment Harry began to hear murmuring outside the door, followed by a sharp and short knock at his bedroom door, "Enter." Harry said, looking up he was Remus standing there, "Yes what is it."

"A gentleman here to see you Sir, collected his ID for you," he said passing the wallet over to Harry. His eyebrows rose slightly at seeing an image of Anton Baclovitch staring at him. Putting his emotionless mask in place Harry gave a forced smile before nodding and exiting the bedroom, Remus following behind him.

"Mr Baclovitch, now this is a surprise." Harry said going over to the man to shake his hand after noting that the brothers had given him a pat down upon entering "What can I do for you?" He said a smile gracing his face. Seeing the man was not going to continue until given privacy he gestured to the brothers to go into the other room before turning back to the Russian and gesturing to the seats, "Can I get you a drink?"

"Bourbon." Came the short and heavily accented reply. Quickly pouring a slosh in each of the crystal whiskey tumblers Harry swiftly passed one to Baclovitch before sitting down opposite the man and taking a sip of the whiskey, waiting for him to begin.

"You have a reputation Mr Conway. I have heard of your… dealings with various militaries." Baclovitch said making an appreciative murmur after taking a sip of Bourbon.

Harry nodded, "Yes, I find they can make quite large requests which is always good," before continuing, "Though personally I find that more specialized - though smaller shipments - are a lot more… lucrative." Harry gave a smile at the comment at the subtle hint he dropped to the arms dealer.

Baclovitch gave a small nod in return before responding, "So hypothetically if I were to request something specified, how quickly could you acquire it?"

"Depends. Anywhere between 2 days to a couple of weeks. All hinges on who I need to pay off or if I need to liberate certain cargos." Harry said reclining slightly in his chair, "What type of cargos are we talking here?"

"Surveillance, military standard." Harry began to think of connections he could use while absent mindedly rubbing a platinum ring on his right index finger. Raising an eye brow Baclovitch continued, "An interesting ring Mr Conway, where ever did you get it?"

Harry clentched his right hand and glance at the ring, "A gift from a friend when I passed my Royal Marine Commandos examination." Harry took another sip before turning the discussion away from the ring, "So when are you looking to have this merchandise by?"

Baclovitch shook his head, "There is a card game going on tomorrow night at a local club I own, called 'The Lookout'. Feel free to join us." Harry nodded waiting for him to continue, smiling slightly at Harry, "On one condition. You obtain a Honeywell RQ-16 T-Hawk. You are aware of what this is?"

Harry nodded his head, "Yes, a Micro Air Vehicle developed by the US Air Force."

"Get me one and I will pay you £50,000 after the game that evening," Baclovitch stood slowly and extended his hand, "then if you can handle that we shall see what else you can do."

Harry smiled and nodded, "I think that such a… proposition would be beneficial to both of us would it not?" Quickly indicating to the two brothers to re-enter the room Harry turned to Romulus, "Would you please escort Mr Baclovitch to the door."

"I will see you soon then Mr Conway?" Baclovitch said extending his hand.

Harry took it and replied, "Certainly, I look forward to it." He smiled before Baclovitch exited the room and the brothers went back to their business, leaving Harry once again in quiet. Making his way back into the room Harry opened the document sent to him by Natasha and scanned over them again, _Known associates… Konya siblings… street criminals… unknown COD… terrorist cell… British educated…_ that was new. Associates with British ties could defiantly cause problems for them.

Hearing another knock Harry was pleased when it was a waiter that entered and not one of the brothers. Giving him a curt nod and a small tip he gestured to the man to leave before settling down for dinner.

It was just after he had finished that his computer beeped, going over to it Harry was surprised to see a video call on the screen. Accepting it Harry was Rowan and Sophia in the screen grinning he said, "Well you two are definitely a sight for sore eyes!"

" _Yeah okay, good to see your still breathing."_ Rowan joked from the other end causing Harry to smile.

"Well what can I do for you fine friends anyway?" Harry said and was not reassured when they both frowned at the same time.

" _There's a leak Harry."_ Rowan said.

Harry let out a long breath, "Ok, how do we know? I mean what kind of information was leaked anyway?"

Sophia responded this time, _"Your status as an arms dealer and that you were looking to make bigger deals."_

Harry nodded, so nothing big and dare he say it even helpful but that didn't mean it was going to stay like that, "I take it that you have yet to locate it then." Sophia and Rowan nodded.

" _We'll keep looking though, Harry. Don't you worry about that, we'll find it. We just needed to notify you of it."_

Harry nodded and changed the topic, "Oh by the way Sophia, I think that you may want to get an ID of your own. I think the best way to do this would be the sociable associates thing, seeing as he invited me to a card game tomorrow night at a club of his."

Sophia laughed, _"Wow you know how to treat a girl Harry,"_ Rowan gave a chuckle and a small smile before she continued, " _Anyway M suspected something like that may work so they put one in the works for me. It should be ready by tomorrow – about 8ish."_

Harry nodded and paused for a moment "Okay get here for Thursday morning, that will give us the day to do sociable things and actually look like a couple but still gives us time to run through the plan."

Sophia nodded and she and Rowan bid their goodbyes. Turning to his phone he scrolled down the list until he found the contact, "Heya."

" _Is this what I think it is Harry?"_

"Well the depends really doesn't, masterful Hawkeye." Harry replied before he continued, "You were right to be suspicious dad, there is a leak."

" _Damn. Okay so are we running that con we planned out then, the one where l supposedly get deployed by SHEILD, but actually come to Turkey and watch your back and all that."_

"Yeah that one, no one knows who the leak is so until then the only person who knows that you're not leaving for a SHEILD op is me, not even Natasha."

" _What do you mean by that? I know she's not the leak."_

Harry sensed the defensiveness in his voice and immediately replied, "I know but the person who is could be monitoring he from the inside."

Sighing Clint backed down, _"Okay you have a point. I'll be in position by midnight."_


End file.
